2024 Paris Supercross November 16-17
In March 1984 some of the best Americans riders flew into Paris as Larivière Editions (Moto Revue, Moto Verte) organised a Supercross for the first time in the French capital. Forty years later the event is still as successful as ever, remains the main SX outside the US and always attracts top riders to battle for the King of Paris on November 16-17 in the Paris La Défense Arena.
In the eighties Paris was not the only city around the world to organise a Supercross, but nowadays they are no more in other famous locations such as Genoa, Amsterdam, Gothenburg, Barcelona, Geneva, Madrid, Antwerp, Tokyo or Osaka, each of which have disappeared from the scene while Paris remain as successful as ever. There is no real secret to this longevity; it is down to the enduring hard work from the organisers to always attract top riders and fans over four decades for the exhilerating show. Moving from Paris Bercy to Lille and later to Paris La Défense Arena – the main modern European stadium – the Paris Supercross is famous all over the world, especially in the USA where Supercross was born fifty-two years ago.
The King and Prince are back!
Jett Lawrence and Jo Shimoda, King and Prince of Paris respectively last year, will each defend their titles after another great and long season in the US championships. Jett was ‘on fire’ as he won both the 450 Supercross and SMX championships, while Jo missed the final podium by just a handful of points. Both will cross the Atlantic next week together with several of their main rivals, as Hunter Lawrence, Cooper Webb, Dylan Ferrandis, Malcolm Stewart and Tom Vialle will also race the 41st Supercross of Paris (Note: in 1984 Paris organized a SX in both March and December). It will be the second time this year that Jett, Hunter, Cooper and Tom will travel to Europe as all were racing the MX of Nations in Great Britain five weeks ago. It was an ‘historical’ edition as Jett and Hunter secured, together with Kyle Webster, the first-ever win at the Nations for Team Australia, thus continuing their successful season with another top result as Jett had already claimed two gold medals in the States and Hunter two silver medals in the US 450 Motocross and Supermotocross series. Could there be a third success in Paris for an Australian rider after Chad Reed in 2007 and Jett last year? In the rich history of the Paris SX Americans have claimed 26 victories and France 10 wins while Chad and Jett have been, together with South African Grant Langston in 2002 and German Ken Roczen in 2022, the few to have beaten the local and US heroes!
US contenders against the rest of the world
For sure Jett, Hunter, Cooper, Malcolm, Dylan, Jo and Tom have a huge advantage over their rivals, as they have raced many Supercross events in the USA throughout the year while their rivals usually race motocross and have only trained for the last month on supercross tracks. But in the long history of the event there have been regular surprises, such as last year when Frenchman Anthony Bourdon won a main event in the SX2 class and finished on the Prince podium. Ever since the 1990s French riders have been the main opponents to the American riders, not only in Paris but also in the USA where Jean Michel Bayle, Mickael Pichon, Stephane Roncada, Christophe Pourcel, Marvin Musquin, Dylan Ferrandis and Tom Vialle – this year! – have each claimed US Supercross titles. For sure Paris Supercross and the French Supercross series have helped them to perform, and to become the second force in US series!
FMX and more!
As usual there will be an FMX show each night, with top athletes such as Belgian Julien Vanstippen, Japanese Taka Higashino, Spaniard Andreu Lacontegui and Frenchman Nicolas Texier, who will show their incredible ability twice each day. The SX2 French championship will be on track early each day, and the best riders will join the SX2 International class (2 races, a Superpole session and a main event) while the programme for the SX1 riders is similar to last year with a Superpole session, two heats and the Main event, the culmination of the show each day.
The Arena will open its gates early enough (2pm on Saturday, 10.30am on Sunday) to allow the fans to see the practice sessions, and the show will start at 7pm on Saturday (ending at 11pm) and at 2pm on Sunday (ending at 6pm). A very few tickets and fan passes are still available for both Saturday and Sunday on www.supercrossparis.com
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