Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128351
he r e was no stopping Andrew Short at the nnd running of the Modus Bercy Supercross. The 21-year-old Am e rican steamrolled t he opposition, going 1-1-1 in the three main events, as well as winning his three qualification races, in a performance reminiscent of that of David Vuillemin, the greatest Bercy winner of all time. The weekend, however, got off to an auspicious start for Short, who crashed in the warmups, but the fall did not dent his determination to win one of the biggest races of his career. "Bercy is very important to me, " Short said. "I mean, so many great riders have won here, and this weekend it was my turn. I was really feeling good, although I crashed on Friday practicing my starts and hurt all over on Saturday morning. I don't know what I did, I just made a mistake and crashed." Despite not feeling I00 percent, Short went about his business, showing the world that riding for a factory team does make a difference. Racing his Honda CRF250R for the first time, Short put away the best Europe had to offer, and he had his way with the youngster Mike Alessi. This wasn't Short's first success at the Bercy Supercross. "Last year I won one night, but winning each night for my first race with the Honda is so great!" Short said. "I'm happy for the team and my new partners, I will now continue to practice hard to prepare for the U.S. Supercross Championship. " Alessi ended up second overall after going 10-2-2 over the weekend. After sorting T out his KTM's suspension that gave him trouble Friday night, Alessi showed some promise. Once the bike was dialed in, the 16-year-old began to make progress, and by Sunday night he was looking at home on the Bercy track . Had it not been for an average start in the Sunday final and a small mistake in that same race, the teenager most likelywould've given Short a bit more of a challenge. "Y u know I don 't even race o Supercross," Alessi said. "We changed some things on the bike after Friday and I , felt a lot better. I rnade some mistakes, but overall began to really feel good out there." Third place in Bercy went to French local Sebastien Pourcel. The Grand Prix rider captured 9-4-3 results and showed great speed throughout the weekend, although at times he was a little impatient, costing him any chance of taking a better posltlon. The crowd favorite, Mickael Pichon, looked a little hesitant at his year's event. Despite running second on the first night and third on the second night, a transmission problem prevented him from finishing a likely second overall. He started having tranny problems while leading Sunday's final, robbing the sold-out crowd of any chance to see a challenge to Short's supremacy. "I heard something when I was leading, and then when Short passed me I heard something again in the motor, " Pichon said. '" couldn't get any gears and I then crashed because of that . In the end, all I could do was come in - I think it was stuck in third gear or something:' Short dominated this year's Bercy Supercross, winning a ll three moin events. The Bercy Supercross, once again, proved to be popular with the French people, despite none of the big names of Supercross on the card . All three nights saw a full stadium, and the noise volume was set on high, especially when Alessi took out local rider Pascal Leuret in the Sunday night final. It was a move similar to the one Chad Reed put on Jeremy McGrath back in 200 I. While the incident might have been just a part of racing, it wasn't taken lightly by the local crowd. Leuret, who had finished 3-5 the previous two nights, was holding down second place in Sunday's final and looked a sure bet to finish second overall when Alessi rode straight into the Frenchman. The crowd showed its disapproval and , as Alessi crossed the finish line, many people in the crowd began to throw anything they could get their hands on at the American youngster. Mickael Pichon, and Leuret's mechanic then approached Alessi, and heated words were exchanged. Alessi held his ground as the crowd again screamed its disapproval; the 16-year-old didn't look rattled at all. "It was just a part of racing," Alessi later said. "You know I wanted to finish second and he was just ahead of me. Ihad an opportunity to finish second, and I took it - even if it was not the cleanest move . I'm young and learned a lot this weekend. , didn't know what I could expect before coming here for my first Supercross, and it was great to race with Short, Pichon and I Briefly... Mike Alessi announced at the Bercy Supercross that he will race the opening three rounds of the 2005 World MX2 Motocross Championship,as well as selected International races. The KTM factory rider is lookingat preparing for the 2005 AMA I25cc Motocross Championship and will use his European adventure as part of that preparat ion. '" will do some Dutch Championship races before the Grand Prix and also a race in England, the Hawkstone International. Then I will do the Grand Prix of Belgium, the Grand Prixof Spain and the Grand Prix of Portugal. I am goingthere to win, and I hope I can achieve that goal." Another story comingout of Bercywas that New Zealand's Dary l King will return to Europe to race the MX3 World Championship. King, who is the present Australian Motocross Champion, finished second twice to Joel Srnets in the World 500cc Championshipand feels this will be his chance to win a World title. King will also compete in the Australian Motocross Championship,which will mean a lot of travel for the 35-year-old veteran . Tyla Rattray is looking forward to having Mike Alessi coming to race the Grand Prix series rounds. The South African, who finished second to Ben Townley in 2004 in the MX2class, will help giveAlessi some guidance during the off season. "They will be stayingwith us, and I want to take them to Gemert ," Rattraysaid. "It's the opening round of the Dutch Motocross Championship; it's one of the toughest, deepest sand tracks in the world and it will be interesting to see how he does there. I think in Zolder I will be quicker than him, but even if he wins and I get second, it isgood for my championship." At this year's race, Andrew Short won around the same amount in prize m oney as did Ricky Johnson did back in the 1980s. While the Bercyfields have gone down over the years, so too has the prize money. Bercy remains, though, the biggest Supercross in Europe and continues to attract the young American riders.