Insight on Paris-Lille supercross

Following the Press Conference at the Monster Energy SMX Riders' and Manufacturers' Cup inside the VELTINS-Arena, we had a chat with Xavier Audouard, the organizer of Paris-Lille Supercross, following the announcement that Youthstream will assist in the promotion of “Supercross de Paris-Lille”, one of Europe's most iconic supercross events that will take place on November 12^th and 13^th at Lille Pierre Mauroy Stadium, Lille, France.

Xavier, you are the Larivière Organisation sports director for this French event since the beginning of the Bercy days, and also a reporter at “Moto Verte”. What were your thoughts on the first SMX Cup?

XA: First of all, it was a first class event, Youthstream gave it just the same surroundings as a GP with the big pits, Monster area, Sky Box, etc., it was a familiar atmosphere but inside a stadium, that was very nice. The track was beautifully made and it gave great racing, different than SX, but great anyway. As a reporter, I was excited to be able to watch champions such as Dungey and Gajser go at it along with Febvre, Herlings, Musquin and Paulin, Osborne, all these guys, for the very first and only time in this season ! The Manufacturers have really sent great teams and it could have been even better without some serious bad luck (Anderson, Nagl, Barcia, Ferrandis !). The way I see it, those Teams fight all year long to win championships but when the official season is over, there can’t be more than a couple of winners and everyone else already seeks revenge for next year, right ? So the SMX Cup gives them an extra chance to win something for their Factory, directly against their competitors, that has a different taste than a rider’s title, it is as close as you can get from an official title in this sport... The Manufacturers select the talent for this event, so it is and will be what they make of it. KTM sent their very best guys and it paid off. So they have the MX2 title, the SX title and now the SMX so, even by his high standards, Pit Beirer can call that a great season ! But racers are racers and there was some serious money on the line so the individual part of racing is probably bigger than it would be at an MXDN, as well. Dungey won, Gajser was impressive, as were Herlings, Musquin, Febvre… Those guys all want to beat each other badly, and it shows. The downpoint was obviously the attendance not being on par with that kind of talent. The Event deserved much better than that.

David Luongo has mentioned that Youthstream will help promote your Lille event and wishes that this collaboration increases in the future, is it about the SMX?

XA: David has explained also that we are not many promoters out there for these type of events and that supporting each other is the right thing to do, I agree and thank him for that. Youthstream knows that the french market, which Larivière created and shaped these past 35 years with “Bercy”, is the #1 in Europe for top level SX racing, so that has to be an option for the SMX, especially as we share our main sponsor, Monster Energy. Franckly, right now we are 100% dedicated to make a success of this coming Lille event and then, two weeks later, of the Montpellier event (French SX Tour). We had two very good inaugural editions in Lille, which duplicates the proven formula from Paris-Bercy. The SMX has very strong points too. Youthstream is the biggest MX promoter in our sport and discuss with them about top level SX in Europe can only be constructive, so we’ll be glad to do it.

How is this Lille event shaping?

XA: Very well! I was happy to see Marvin, Romain and Jordi Tixier, who are our top French stars for Lille, all ride very strong tonight, and they will even get better at SX before Lille. It will be the only appearance all season for Marvin on french soil so the fans are excited by that. He was so fantastic last year in Ernée ! And Romain had podium speed tonight, after his incredible Maggiora rides. Thomas Ramette won tonight the Sweden SX and France has other strong names like Izoird, Soubeyras, Coulon, Boog, Teillet, Desprey, all the French SX Tour guys are the backbone of SX in France, they are the ones who will fight for their national title in Montpellier too ! A lot of them come from the southern regions, so Montpellier will be their chance to shine on home soil.

What will be the American squad for Lille?

XA: We are very excited to get Justin Barcia, former two-time King of Bercy, who was also terrific in Ernée last year. He seems to be always fired up in France and is used to race with Marvin a lot. We hear he may be on new equipment, if confirmed, it will mean even extra motivation for him! Malcolm Stewart is a Lille-favourite and a huge crowd-pleaser, who returns as the US SX East champion this time (but he’ll be on a 450) ! Christian Craig is a top West Coast contender and a master stylist-technician... So, For America, we got a powerful team as well. Then we’ll also have a “Rest of the World” team, which will compete with France and the USA to put its plate on the OCD trophy, that is kind of our “Bercy” Chamberlain trophy (counting 5 top results per “Nation” each night)... Tommy Searle, Arnaud Tonus and Brian Hsu, the last two on their new rides, all have proven SX skills and will be strong underdogs.  

What about the support Class ?

XA: We have seen at the SMX that support class races can also be very exciting ! Ours is a round of the SX2 french championship, “beefed up” with wild cards like Americans Ryan Surratt and Jake Masterpool and UK Arenacross champion Joe Clayton. The “regulars” include names like Richier, Do, Irsuti, Aubin… I expect very competitive racing in that class as well.

Will you have an FMX show also, as per usual ?

XA: We love FMX and it is a great part of our show. And we love Legends as well, that’s why we’ll have an Edgar Torronteras and a Mat Rebeaud, doing their thing ! Genki Watanabe will represent the Japanese school and Brice Izzo the French one. David Rinaldo will bring some astonishing best tricks, one of them a first for him, that will be huge !

Can you give a few details for international fans?

XA: Lille is very close from Belgium and easily accessible from Holland, Germany, Switzerland, the UK... Every ticket gives access to outside paddock for autograph sessions etc + all practise sessions inside the stadium. Practises start at 12.30 on Saturday, Nov 12^th and from 10.30AM on Sunday, November 13^th. Show starts at 7PM and ends at 11PM on Saturday, starts at 3PM and ends at 7PM on Sunday”. 

Lille SX tickets booking: http://www.supercrossbercy.com/fr/billetterie/la-billetterie-2016-est-ouverte-903.html