A perfect weekend
By TMX Archives on 13th Nov 08
IT was simply a perfect weekend for James Stewart and Max Anstie.Bubba' joined David Vuillemin in the record books as the only other King of Bercy to race unbeaten through the weekend, Mad Max' even got his teeth in the adults after sweeping his third consecutive title as Prince, and both maximum men loved every minute!That's a real honour to join David in the records, gleamed Bubba' after going 18/18, And I have never enjoyed a race so much, the whole thing, the introduction, the show, I gotta come back next year and try to do it again.And Bercy favourite Max Anstie, who will turn 16 before the next Bercy classic, had a word for his admirers and the opposition from the podium: That's three in a row, I just can't wait for next year. From the word go it was evident that it would take an extraordinary performance to beat either James or Max as they each out-distanced everyone in their class by two-seconds a lap from the first training.
Before racing ‘Bubba' admitted that he feels his corner speed is already higher on the Yamaha, but he was gaining his time through early pick-up, getting on the gas some four-feet earlier than anyone else, absolute precision over every jump, and in particular with his seemingly effortless glide through the whoops. While everyone else was hammering through every one, ‘Bubba' was simply floating, skimming each one with the rear wheel, his front hovering an inch above each crest. Amazing!
On the first night he also had the holeshot nailed, sweeping ahead in turn one and moving relentlessly away until the closing laps when his laps times dropped as he ensured he gave lappers a wide berth.
The Saturday crowd at least saw Josh Grant lead for a lap as the starts failed to come, and they also saw him come closer to defeat than at any other time in the weekend as Kevin Windham led the ‘Knock-out final' into the last lap. Was it really that close, or was it show?
The finalists had chatted before the final showdown, and many observers were convinced the first turn was fixed, but the way Stewart lined-up the 30-year-old veteran through a rhythm section was perfection, a line switch he repeated the only time he had to pass anyone on Sunday afternoon.
But in truth did anyone come to Bercy expecting anything other than utter domination?
Second each night, the artisan Justin Brayton admitted as early as Friday: "Of course I'm happy. I just finished second to the fastest rider on the planet!”
Any feeling of resignation never surfaced however as the other two-dozen contracted riders traded blows in Stewart's wake.
Grant led the chasers home in the first race on Friday, before Brayton reversed the decision in the final
race of the night, Benjamin Coisy kept them honest in the motos he didn't bale out, Marvin Musquin continually impressed with his elegant rides through the pack on the only 250F at the start, and record Bercy winner, David Vuillemin, leaner than he has been for two-years, was getting more confident with every ride on the Bud Kawasaki.
The ‘Cobra's' starts were diabolical on the first two nights, but a change of gearing at least got him out of the gate with the pack on Sunday and his storming drive through the whoops – nothing elegant, simply sheer endeavour – to pass Brayton in the ‘KO' and force a final run-off against Stewart – brought the house down. His pass on Windham in the final race of the weekend also salvaged some pride for the home crowd, but it was not quite enough to prevent a complete block-out of the podium for the Americans.
2008 PARIS SUPERCROSS
Bercy Stadium, Paris
KING OF BERCY
Friday: 1 James Stewart (US - Yamaha) 1-0-1, 2 Justin Brayton (US - KTM) 3-1-2, 3 Josh Grant (US - Yamaha) 2-4-3, 4 David Vuillemin (F - Kawasaki) 5-3-4, 5 Kevin Windham (US - Honda) 7-4-6, 6 Matt Goerke (US - Suzuki) 9-3-7, 7 Marvin Musquin (F - Honda) 6-2-11, 8 Eric Sorby (F - Yamaha) 10-2-9, 9 Benjamin Coisy (F - Honda) 4-4-14, 10 Cyrille Coulon (F - Suzuki) 14-3-5, 11 Gregory Aranda (F - Kawasaki) 8-3-12, 12 Steve Boniface (F - Honda) 12-4-8, 13 Nico Aubin (F - Yamaha) 13-4-10, 14 Jacob Marsack (US - Honda) 11-4-13.
Saturday: 1 Stewart 1-0-1, 2 Brayton 2-2-2, 3 Windham 3-1-6, 4 Coisy 4-3-4, 5 Musquin 6-4-5, 6 Boniface 7-3-8, 7 Grant 14-2-3, 8 Vuillemin 5-4-14, 9 Sorby 13-3-7, 10 Christophe Martin (F - Husqvarna 8-3-12, 11 Aranda 9-4-11, 12 Aubin 11-4-9, 13 Marsack 12-4-10, 14 Goerke 10-4-13.
Sunday: 1 Stewart 1-0-1, 2 Brayton 2-2-2, 3 Windham 3-2-4, 4 Vuillemin 6-1-3, 5 Boniface 4-3-5, 6 Musquin 5-3-11, 7 Aubin 11-3-6, 8 Marsack 8-4-8, 9 Martin 10-4-7, 10 Alexandre Rouis (F - Yamaha 7-4-10, 11 Cedric Soubeyras (F - Yamaha 9-4-9, 12 Coisy 12-4-12, 13 Sorby 14-3-12, 14 Grant 13-4-12
King of Bercy: 1 Stewart 6, 2 Brayton 18, 3 Windham 36, 4 Vuillemin 45, 5 Musquin 53, 6 Boniface 54, 7 Grant 57, 8 Coisy 61, 9 Aubin 71, 10 Sorby 73
PRINCE OF BERCY (125cc)
Friday: 1 Max Anstie (GB - KTM), 2 Boris Maillard (F - Suzuki), 3 Alexis Gaudree (F - Yamaha), 4 Jordi Tixier (F - Kawasaki), 5 Laurent Thibault (F - Yamaha).
Saturday: 1 Anstie, 2 Tixier, 3 Maillard, 4 Arnaud Aubin (F - Yamaha), 5 Ludwig de Saint Etienne (F - Yamaha).
Sunday: 1 Anstie, 2 Mickael Levreau (F - KTM), 3 Aubin, 4 Maillard, 5 De Saint Etienne.
Prince of Bercy: 1 Anstie, 2 Maillard, 3 Tixier, 4 Levreau, 5 Aubin, 6 De Saint Etienne, 7 Thiebault, 8 Gaudree.
NB: The central number each evening represents the score in the KO competition – winner 0 points, beaten finalist 1-point, eliminated in semi 2-points, eliminated in quarter-finals 3-points, eliminated first round 4-points.
All other numbers represent finishing positions in the two finals.
FOR FULL REPORT SEE T+MX NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2008
Mat Rebeaud's flipping great - but had a narrow escape on Sunday, when gremlins got into the Swiss man's throttle.