by Adam Wheeler
Racer X Race Report: Bercy Night 1
Friday, November 19, 2010 | 10:01 PM
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PrintBarcia takes first night at Bercy
GEICO Powersports Honda’s Justin Barcia created a memorable Bercy debut on Friday night at a packed Palais Omnisports stadium and his performance epitomised the hype and fuss surrounded the eighteen year old. A vibrant outing in the Main Event saw the East Coast runner-up earn his spurs with a comprehensive victory over MX2 World Champion Marvin Musquin and another Bercy debutant, Kyle Chisholm, in third.
Earlier in the evening Barcia showed another well-publicised facet of his increasing profile by leaving marks on Yamaha Monster Energy’s Gautier Paulin and also managing to block pass the majority of the pack in the Eliminator Heat, unique to Bercy. The risky moves were part of the Barcia-edge but Paulin – winner of the Eliminator but a first lap crash victim in the Main – felt he needed to complain to his rival after having also been rubbed by the American in Italy two weeks ago.
Justin Barcia
photo: Ray Archer
Paulin and Barcia were the stand-out riders of the competition and with the former’s accident the boisterous French public were denied a tasty duel for the crucial race. Musquin, in second, had been getting quicker all night and was troubled by Chisholm who endured a terrible Superpole and Eliminator but was one of the few survivors of a stricken Main in which only nine riders made the flag. Max Anstie (injured right arm), Ken De Dycker, Grant Langston and Greg Aranda all hit the deck with varying degrees of severity and Langston in particular closed the first part of his final meeting as a Pro with a tyre strip on his back thanks to Aranda’s rash decision to triple. Blake Wharton and Michael Byrne did not even make the gate after earlier incidents. MX1 World Champion Tony Cairoli was out of sorts on the 350SX-F after suffering a fall during the week, ‘it was a scary crash; I’m lucky to be here’ he said.
Musquin, sporting the number one plate and an improved fuel-injected 250SX-F that he has spent time honing on the tracks of Corona before heading back to his native shores, took the plaudits on the podium but the crowd were also noisily appreciative of Barcia’s guile and adaptability.
"I’m really happy and we made a few changes to the suspension to cope with the track that was getting worn by the end of the night," the victor said. "I was losing time in the whoops to Paulin but I took some advice from Eric Sorby and David Vuillemin and I guess the lesson there is to definitely listen to your elders!"
Aside from the action the sight of the French Legends; Mickael Pichon, Vuillemin, Jacky Vimond, Sebastien Tortelli, Fred Bolley and others and of course Jean-Michel Bayle was also a highlight of the lengthy and delayed program. Part two of three – with hopefully a field that is not too depleted – will kick off tomorrow evening.
RESULTS - NIGHT 1
1) Justin Barcia, Honda
2) Marvin Musquin, KTM
3) Kyle Chisholm, Yamaha
4) Cedric Soubeyras, KTM
5) Christophe Martin, Honda
6) Fabien Izoird, Suzuki
7) Antonio Cairoli, KTM
8) Arnaud Tonus , Suzuki
9) Ryan Morais, Suzuki
Gautier Paulin
photo: Ray Archer
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I have said (on this form), in my opinion Barcia will be the one to dethrone Bubba, yes I know he presently holds no current titles, and Barcia has yet to realize his first one, but again, in my opinion for sure he has greatness in his future. Maybe a better way to put it would be speed wise he will eventually be the contender! Good Job Justin! Blake, man I love that dude but he may be the next Guy Cooper, although Guy won 125 National title, he is probably the fastest guy to never win a 250 SX! Blake may have that distinction in the future, the guy is fast, really fast but can't seem to get a break!
This is SX, we're not playing tiddlywinks out there!! Get some, Barcia!!! I don't understand what displacement they're on: Musquin's on a 250, Carioli a 350, Paulin a 450......What gives??
Man one race and we already have a significant amount of people injured.
Le Barcia bang ze way to front , say au revoir.
yzf571 stewie has been dethroned for a while now. Its gonna take a miracle for James to get top three let alone top of the box. He's been out way to long, things have changed since he last dominated. I personally dont think Yamaha is a good fit for James. He would do much better on a suzuki, honda or a ktm
You know I cannot argue that, however. Be that as it may, he still is "The Fastest Man on the Planet". Seriously, we'll see. As I have said before, that maynot equate to a championship, but for sure it will bring race wins, and I believe he will be consistantly the fastest man on the track. As for me Chad Reed is who I would most like to see win the series, James Stewart is who I suspect will win. As I always say, as long as the are all out there banging bars, who wins on what is secondary to that we have a great season. Fan of the sport, and all of the riders! Oh and for sure I would like to see Josh Grant, and Josh Hill (heard he is not riding) do well.
Come A-1, if i was a betting man and i am, my money would be on Dungey. However, Canard might pull a lucky charm from his bag of goodies and bring Honda some glory at the opener. Rain may spoil the parade cause its been raining alot this year in so ca.
sorry mrfingknowitall, the reported thing to click is about 1mm away from the all comments click and i accidently clicked reported...accidental!!!
I think it will be the Ryan's running the show at A1. RV is looking scary fast and he is in very good shape already. I think he will be better prepared than he ever has been for the 450 and he is my favorite to win this year. I am not the biggest fan of Stewart but I would love to see RV and Dungey battle him for wins.
does anyone know when Broc Hepler is coming back???
Broc Hepler is not comming back...i believe he said he might do a race or two in the future but that he decided to quit. too many injuries...
Cant wait to see what happens night 2.
Hey Broc went back to school.On interview with Mathes, He says he is taking one class at a time and he loves it. The doc told him he might be a cabbage if he continues banging his head so he just does it for fun now. He didi say he would want to to enduro. And yes he owns 2 YZ250 2 strokes. Thats all he rides
Broc needs to come back and ride the nationals or go to the world GP circuit. The guy hauls ass outdoors and would smoke the GP'S and make lots of money. I'd move to alaska if I could make a living riding a dirtbike....
Chisholm right there in the mix, get'er done.
I had a feeling a tight track like this would favor a guy like Barcia. I love how he played the crowd by saying that two Frenchies (DV & Sorby) told him to ride that way! Even though he stuffed all their guys, he still comes off looking good. Brilliant! I think JB is gonna take some wins this year, and maybe a title. And I know it's still 6 months away still, but 250 MX is gonna be just insane this year. Can't wait for A1.
It's time for the Americans to invade MX1 and MX2
hell ya , Barcia!
Way to go Barcia, boy, the unbeatable Marvin gets beat again. This is starting to happen alot. I think the night no. 2 will tell a different story though,sounds like some guys were a little banged up. Lets hope Barcia gets his self on the top podium again.
Cedric Soubeyras repping the two-stroke! That kid is killing it lately.
don't mess with a New Yorker !! way to go Barcia .....USA,USA,USA !! its are sport (deal with it)
Watch the Friday finale here: http://www.motoverte.com/site/video-la-finale-du-vendredi-56380.html
Rubbin is racin! Paulin should get over it. Way to go Barcia!!!
"Rubbin" is not racing. If everyone did it at every opportunity, everyone would be on the ground and there would be no race. Go back to monster trucks or the school bus figure 8.
yes, rubbin is racing. These boys are Pros. Dungey and Short racing for the lead... Boring. If i want to watch gentlemen i will watch cricket. RC and Carmichael at washougal... yea boy. p.s. I'm a former AMA Pro card holder... Block passing and getting block passed - LOOOOVE IT
I like Barcia and his determination. He brings a fire. He is also young. He will learn. Often times aggressive riding like his effects both participants as it did in night two. He will learn.
I always thought rubbing was rubbing? Is that not the stupidest cliche ever? MX bikes don't "rub" against each other, they smack into each other. Yeah, block passing, that is SO freaking exciting to watch. I was going to attend some MX races in 2011, but on second thought I'll just go watch the bumper cars at the amusement park. After all, bumping is racing. I do remember RC vs. Carmichael at Washougal though, man the way they were rubbing each other.......WTF?
I think i saw those guys RC and Carmichael battle once, Man- dude u prolly should quit useing the bong so much.