Back in 1984, nobody could have known how big the Bercy/Paris supercross would become, but with promoters, loaded up on prizemoney and start money, it didn’t take long before they could coax the leading AMA and Grand Prix riders to this special event.

That first Bercy in 84, the stars were David Bailey, Johnny O’Mara, Ricky Johnson, Broc Glover, Georges Jobe, Jacky Vimond and Danny Laporte. Vimond, Jobe and Laporte were all former or current world motocross champions and obviously, the AMA guys were all worldwide superstars.

Bailey won the first-ever Paris-Bercy Supercross in March 1984, earning the title of the first "King of Paris". He won the event alongside Johnny O'Mara, with the two Americans finishing with a 1-2 and 2-1 scores over the two-night event. Bailey earned $14,000 for his win ($40,000 today).

Bailey did an interview with Jason Weigandt of RacerX back in 2017, speaking about his trip and the interview was gold. Here are some comments from that interview.

“I get a call from Roger [DeCoster] saying, “Hey, there’s this race in Paris, we really want you to do.” I had already talked to Xavier [Audourard, event founder] about it. I was interested, but in the end, I said, “Nah, I really don’t want to do that.” Roger is like, “Come on, man!” But I said I was busy. I had a foot injury. Then Roger calls again! I was kind of annoyed. I already said no! I told him I really wanted to get this foot injury dialled before the Houston Supercross. So that was that, but Roger called back again five or ten minutes later and he goes, “We already have your bikes on the way there. We told Johnny you were going to do it, and he said, “If David is doing it, I will do it.” At that point, I was like “Well, now that I know all that, I guess I’ll go.” I don’t remember exactly how it went, but it was pretty much like that.”

“The first one I went to; they had this sound system that was amazing. They had this theme song, which I think was a Huey Lewis song or something like that. When we came back in ’86, I think the theme song was, like, from Top Gun. And they pushed us out of the tunnel in a plane that looked like the Spirit of St. Louis.

“They announced to the crowd that we all weren’t going to be able to make it because we all got stuck testing in Japan. “Yeah, the Americans aren’t going to make it, but we still have Jacky Vimond!” And the crowd’s all bummed, and then they push us out through the tunnel. Some of us were inside this Spirit of St. Louis plane, some of us are standing on the side, it was fun.

“They always had a really cool way of introducing everyone. We were like rock stars. We had the feeling that it’s a race, but we’re also here to entertain. It was a complete left-hand turn compared to what we were doing, so it was nice to go over there and be surprised.”

"Johnny and I stuck together and had a total blast! From Xavier’s rally skills down narrow streets from the airport to the hotel and that unique stadium to the amazing show they put on, it was all fun, first class and exciting. The crowd was right on top of us, the racing was tight and intense. I think I was going to end up winning the first night, I was leading and I slowed down at the end so me and Johnny could go across the line and whip it together. He ended up passing me! But I won the second night, and I got the first King of Bercy thing.”

“Then they had the race again later that year, and I was just a grouch. I had been in Europe already at Genoa and a few places, and I broke my foot again over there. Somebody did an interview with me and I was like, “Europe sucks!” That’s why they didn’t invite me back in ’85. I got to talking to Xavier a little bit and we straightened it out. He’s like, “We thought you didn’t want to come!” And I told him I was just being an idiot and I loved it there."

"So, I ended up going back for 1986 and then had it for three nights. I ended up winning it again. I loved Bercy, I think it was a really exciting show. Over the years, it gets hard to maintain that. But to be there in those first few years, it’s a new, fun event to do. If you didn’t win, it was no big deal. If you did win, it was badass because they gave you this giant trophy that could barely fit on the plane. I still have ’em. That first Bercy, I still have that trophy in my office. It was a great race and I’m glad they did it. I looked forward to going.”