2019 Paris Supercross | Sunday Race Report

2019 PARIS SUPERCROSS | COMPLETE COVERAGE

2019 PARIS SUPERCROSS | FULL RESULTS WEBSITE

After a chaotic first night at the Paris La Defense Arena, racers returned for night two of the 2019 Paris Supercross and were determined to avoid any issues in the final three motos of the weekend. Although the overall win was out of reach for most, every competitor battled hard for the available positions and gave fans some of the best racing the event has seen in years. There was a breakthrough win for one rider, a pair of individual victories for another, and a third King of Paris title to the weekend’s most consistent entry.

With a solid Saturday night to his credit, Justin Barcia knew that getting through the last three races unscathed would confirm his rank as the top rider on the weekend. The Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing rider did not win any of the three battles on Saturday, but it was not from a lack of trying, especially in Moto Two. After a long pursuit of Dylan Ferrandis for the lead, the two got close in the hairpin turn that shot riders back onto the flat start section and inevitable contact between them put Ferrandis on the ground. Barcia took the lead for a moment, but lost it soon after when Malcolm Stewart slipped by in the final laps, which put Barcia back to second at the finish. Going into the last gate drop of the weekend, Barcia still held a strong advantage over the rest and raced to a steady third place for a confirmed King of Paris win, his third at the international event.

Malcolm Stewart was by far the fastest rider of Sunday’s program, a fact that was confirmed on multiple occasions during the day. The SmarTop/Bullfrog Spas/MotoConcepts/Honda rider was the top qualifier and cranked out the quickest lap in the Super Pole, two things that showed his single-lap speed. Stewart claimed third in Moto One, as he never caught sight of the leaders, but rebounded in a big way during the last two races. He waited for the Barcia-Ferrandis incident to occur, then pounced in a tricky rhythm section when Barcia didn’t expect it and controlled the lines all the way to the checkered flag. The last race of the weekend was Stewart’s best, because he got into the lead early and rode practically the full duration of the 15-minute moto with Ferrandis on his rear fender. Even with a competitor close by, Stewart never seemed to make a mistake under pressure and opened up an even bigger gap in the final laps to take the win, the only rider to win multiple motos on the weekend. With 3-1-1 finishes, he claimed the Sunday win and finished second in the overall standings.

The Paris Supercross was part of Jeremy Martin’s journey back to race form following a long layoff with injury and in the night’s first race, the GEICO Honda showed he still has the speed to run with anyone in the pack. Martin nabbed the holeshot, one of his many on the weekend, and clicked off lap after lap in near-perfect form with Justin Hill in tow before taking his first race win since 2017. His remaining races on the night were good, as he had to overcome early issues or battles in both and the 1-3-4 scores put him in a surprise second overall on the night. With the results from the two nights together, Martin finished the weekend fourth overall.

After a challenging first night that saw some success and setbacks, Dylan Ferrandis was determined to give the French fans something to cheer about. A sixth-place finish in Moto One was not stellar, but the Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha rider improved in the two other races and had the pace of the front-runners. The run-in with Barcia cost him a win in Moto Two, an incident he took in stride and even admitted some fault for, and he stayed with Stewart for the full duration of race three, sometimes with better laps, and finished the race in second. Though Ferrandis was fourth in Sunday’s classification, he was still ranked third overall on the weekend thanks to his Saturday success.

Vince Friese and Justin Hill had good nights in Paris, though the result might not have been what either wanted. Hill went 2-5-6 for fourth overall and chased Martin for the lead in Moto One, but was not able to set the pace like he did on Saturday. He was the last rider to score below 20 points on the night, which is a good thing. Friese’s results were marred by an incident in Moto Two and the 11^th place score he was given in that gate drop took him out of consideration for a second podium appearance on the weekend.

Chad Reed and Joey Savatgy both took tumbles on Sunday. Reed’s wreck happened on the opening lap of Moto One and his ribs to much of the abuse. Because he’s on the entry list for two more races in Australia and New Zealand, he sat out the remainder of the night. Savatgy’s swap-out in the whoops during Moto Three really took a toll on his score, because the 14^th place results outweighed the 5-7 finishes of Moto One and Moto Two.

As for the SX2 class, Brain Hsu was unbeatable in the night’s three races and with 1-1-1 scores, he snatched the Prince of Paris title for the first time in his career. It was an impressive feat for a rider that’s known for excellent skill but injury-riddled history.