There is no doubt about it, the Paris Supercross belongs in our hall of fame (if we had one). One of the greatest events the sport has seen and time and time again, they reinvent this legendary event. Below are some comments from some of the legends who have raced there.

David Vuillemin

It's quite simple, in France, it's the Mecca of supercross. The flagship event of the discipline. Everyone wants to win it. For the footballers, it's equivalent to a big match at the Stade de France. I've been going there since I was a little kid. In 1985, it was there that I saw my idols for the first time. It's a sport that is steeped in American culture, in the show. To win it four times, that is amazing and something I am very proud of. Those years I was at my peak and to beat Jeremy (McGrath) and some others there, it was a dream come true for a young French kid.

Jeremy McGrath

Bercy will always be some of the most enjoyable memories of my career. I got to race there many times, I won a couple of weekends, won some nights and had a blast. Paris is such an amazing city and back in the day you could enjoy the racing and then enjoy the city. It has changed a lot I guess, maybe riders don’t enjoy the other part, apart from racing, but we enjoyed the whole experience. The French supporters are some of the best in the world and around Bercy, the crowd was really close to the action.

Those early years, when I won in 1993 and 1995 was a lot of fun, and I was new to the Bercy supercross. Every time I went to Europe it was a lot of fun and on many occasions no pressure, just enjoying being a racer and experience new things.

Ricky Johnson

What can I say about Bercy, it was a fun weekend. We always had a great time there and Xavia and everyone else made sure we had a really enjoyable experience. It wasn’t just the racing, although the racing was always intense and the French crowd were into it. I was lucky enough to win there a couple of times, and those wins sit high in my best moments of my career. Sometimes we could go to Europe and come back home with a lot of money, but the most important thing we go to see the world and do something we loved doing. Bercy was at the time maybe the biggest event on the calendar outside of the Motocross des Nations, it was that big.

David Bailey

Bercy SX 1984. Right after the Daytona SX in March and the first Outdoor National the week before at Gatorback, I got talked into this new little Arenacross sized supercross in Paris France. I didn’t really want to go at first. I broke my foot right after Anaheim and was playing catch up.

The last thing I needed was a trip to Europe, but they convinced me it would be exciting, O’Mara, Glover and Johnson were going too, plus some top Europeans like Frances’ own Jacky Vimond, Jorges Jobe and Danny LaPorte who was basically a European by then. Honda was shipping works bikes over for me and Johnny while our US mechanics Cliff White and Jim Felt took the time to reset.

The excitement was off the chart. The show was better than anything I’d ever seen for motocross and the theme song for the 2-night event was Huey Lewis’ I want a New Drug. The track was tiny, but the show and the racing was a huge hit. O’Mara and I went 1-2 / 2-1, and I became the first King of Bercy.

I went back at the end of 1984 as well but after Italy, Paris AND Belgium I got kind of whiny and I wasn’t invited back in 1985. We straightened out my whiny comments, and I went back in 1986 for a 3-nighter and won the overall and was King’d again. Nothing but good memories in that unique little stadium

Jeff Emig

For me, when I finally came to Bercy in 1997, I had won everything for a year, apart from the MXdN in Belgium. I basically had a calendar year, where I was on cruise control. When I got to Bercy, I had so much belief. Of course it has changed now, but when it was in the small stadium in the city, it was a race like no other. The first time I did Bercy, in 1990 we raced four nights. That place was so much fun and so much history.