The Best of Supercross and FMX at Bercy

Underground Bercy
The Paris Bercy Omnisports palace has been re-shaped for Supercross. About
250 truckloads of earth have been brought to the stadium for a total of 2000
m3 with twenty people working for two days to make the bumps, whoops, bends
and jumps turning Bercy into a very technical Supercross track. Jean-Luc
Fouchet has been masterminding the works with a the ballet of tractor
shovels, shovel loaders and land pressers spreading earth over 20 centimetre
high and 8 metre wide. For the 2004 edition, 4 tracks have been designed to
a length of 550 metres. The spectators will be able to follow the progress
of the riders for quite a long time in the stadium before seeing them
disappearing into the Bercy gangways.

International line-up
Limited to one single category with 125 two-stroke and 250 four-stroke
racing together since 2002, the Bercy Supercross has been welcoming the best
SX riders in the world, appealing to both those who want to get the supreme
award and be proclaimed “King of Bercy” in the individual ranking or simply
help their team (France, the USA or the rest of the world) to win the
national classification.
The 2004 vintage looks as promising as ever. America has announced the
Alessi brothers. Mike, 16, has already become a star in his home country
after a set of recent stunning professional results following his amateur
career where he has equalled such records as James Stewart’s! Alessi will be
starting Supercross in the USA in 2006 but he has opted for Bercy to test
his own skills, as it has such international fame! Big US teams such as KTM,
Honda Factory Connection and Yamaha of Troy are sending several riders to
re-affirm the reputation of the Paris “classic” as the biggest meeting in
the world for 125/250 4-stroke (also called SX2). Mike Brown, Joaquim
Rodrigues, Ryan Mills, Chris Gosselaar, Greg Schnell, Tommy Hahn and Troy
Adams (the last three riders were on the podium at Las Vegas in the last US
Open) have all made sure Bercy is on their agenda. Another group will be
coming from the GP world, such as MX1 world vice-champion Tyla Rattray from
South Africa and the tempestuous Italian Antonio Cairoli. As for the French
delegation, we’ll be watching Michaël Pichon and Sébastien Tortelli, who
both have had a fantastic season finish, as well as Eric Sorby, Steve
Boniface and Sébastien Pourcel (3rd of the last Motocross of Nations in
Holland): France can expect to be a favourite in the inter-nation
classification taking the three best results into account every evening.
Coming from the rest of the world are Jean-Sébastien Roy from Canada, Akira
Narita from Japan, Gareth Swanepoel from South Africa, Julien Bill and Marc
Ristori from Switzerland or Aussies Jay Marmont and Brett Metcalfe. Bercy
will be once again a top-level event as usual! We shouldn’t forget the SX
Tour with the ten best 125 riders from this European series against six
“wild cards”, some of them coming from the 250 category of the SX Tour. The
classification of the three races will be added up together to make an
overall result with championship points, and the three top French riders
will then join the Team France for the rest of the evening.

A stunning show
The Bercy Supercross is not only about boisterous races. It’s also about
show and adrenaline. The spectacle part always comes as a surprise and, for
several years now, FMX has been part of the arena with incredible jumps and
crazy mid-air stints performed by the very best specialists!
For sure THE sensation will be the bronze medal winner at the recent Gravity
games, Ronnie Faisst, belonging to the famed Metal Mulisha, the most
hard-core group in that field! Faisst wears tattoos from head to toes and is
athletically built; also he is a king of … kung fu! A big character as well
as a super showman just like the kind of character Bercy loves so much. His
personal trump is the “backflip”, the most radical figure ever, in which he
completes one full rotation on himself. But also, “Kung Fu Ronnie Faisst”
performs his blackflips with several variations along a big 23-metre ramp!
Less than eight riders in the world are currently capable of such an
exploit!
The wonderful hidalgo Edgar Torronteras has been building up his own legend
on aerial figures and Bercy is his favourite venue. Also present: the French
leader Manu Troux, the American legend Mike Jones and his country mate
Ronnie Renner, the bronze medal from Madrid, the Swiss radical Matthieu
Rebaud as well as the elegant Brit Chris Brock. The best of them will all be
trying the blackflip.
Once more Bercy will mixed top quality races and a free style show of the
highest level ever seen in France.