In less than a month the Plenitude Arena in Paris La Défense will be gearing up for Supercross. For the ninth time in its short history, Europe’s largest indoor arena (fully covered and heated) will host the oldest international supercross event!

The years go by and the Paris Supercross remains a legendary event, drawing tens of thousands of fans each year to cheer on the stars of the sport. On November 21st and 22nd, the Arena will once again be buzzing with the energy of Supercross and Freestyle for “200% Show”!

Paris, always a success

Paris remains the most prestigious Supercross event outside the USA on the international calendar. Since the first edition in 1984 at the POPB (Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy) the event has stood the test of time, continuing to attract a host of champions each year from the land of Supercross … the United States of America. Paris has forged strong relationships with top riders and official manufacturers/teams, which in turn has allowed it to cultivate a loyal following of passionate fans and partners who appreciate the exclusivity of the spectacle. The relocations from the POPB to the Arena, via Lille, has not diminished the event’s success, the only one to boast the status of a “Great International Classic”.

Ken Roczen is back!

Securing the participation of the reigning US Supercross champion is always a challenge, and it’s an honour for the organisers to present Ken Roczen, fresh from his title win after a thrilling finale against Hunter Lawrence! A former youth prodigy, with his inimitable style, Kenny returns to his European roots to celebrate this title in Paris, a crowning achievement of an extraordinary career. During this career, he dominated both the World and American championships, overcoming serious injuries and achieving one of the most remarkable comebacks in international sport to contribute to his legendary status and immense popularity worldwide!

“KR94” will attempt to equal seven of his predecessors who made their mark in the City of Lights by winning the Paris Supercross a few months after winning titles across the Atlantic: Johnny O’Mara (1984), Jean Michel Bayle (1991), Jeff Stanton (1992), Jeremy McGrath (1993 and 1995), Jeff Emig (1998) and Jason Anderson (2018)… a truly impressive list which speaks for itself!

A quintet of contenders

Facing the best Supercross rider in the world, five names emerge as potential rivals. Aaron Plessinger, the spectacular “cowboy,” will make his first (and highly anticipated) official appearance on a Triumph in Paris! For his part, the very talented Jo Shimoda has already secured the title of “Prince of Paris” in 2023 after winning four of the six finals, and Paris will be his first SX in the 450 class, a category likely to perfectly suit his immaculate style! The third will be Jordon Smith, who will have the difficult task of replacing Malcolm Stewart, who is unable to join his future team as they have not yet had the opportunity for testing together… The organisers are sorry for this setback, and Malcolm, equally disappointed, joins them in apologising to the Parisienne public (he has already marked his calendar for Paris 2027). With the very tenacious Smith, 8th in the recent SMX series final (just ahead of Stewart!), the entire Team Triumph USA will be represented in Paris, proof of this team’s desire to start with a bang in front of the Parisienne public!

Facing this US contingent will be two European MXGP World Championship stars, both highly-skilled and ambitious in Supercross! Tom Vialle needs no introduction with his two SX titles in the United States and his remarkable inaugural season in the premier class (fourth overall and Rookie of the Year!)… Obviously, Tom returns to Paris with even higher ambitions and, as a local favorite, the certainty of massive public support!The second rider, Lucas Coenen, will make his Supercross debut in Paris; the runaway leader of the MXGP World Championship before a persistent injury derailed his title hopes, Lucas demonstrated an incredible ability to overcome adversity as he resisted pain to enable Belgium to win the Motocross of Nations at Ernée earlier this month. Having switched directly to SX before his big debut across the Atlantic next January, Lucas will be both a question mark and a major point of interest in this edition!

A SX1 class more competitive than ever

Other outsiders head to Paris from the Antipodes, where they claimed many podiums of the Australian championship since last year. The very popular Cédric Soubeyras (record holder for participations in Paris with 19 appearances but still reaching the podium one evening last year!) and Hayden Mellross, who will represent the Yamaha VHR team, should also be in the mix, as will the top riders of the SX Tour – French Championship – the (multi)-champion Maxime Desprey, runner-up Jordi Tixier and Tom Guyon, third in the final, will all of course be there!

A super-spicy SX2 category

While the SX1 category will be the main attraction, two other categories are on the programme: the final rounds of the French SX2 and SX Junior championships. Alongside the top riders from each championship—namely the top 12 in SX2 and the top 10 in SX Junior—a number of “wild cards” invited by the partner teams of the Paris SX will add yet more excitement to the competition and challenge the leaders: Lonny Ferrer in Juniors and Michael Hicks (on the electric Stark) in SX2.

Bud Racing (in addition to Tim Lopes in Junior) will field the very strong Michael Harrison and Henry Miller in SX2, GSM-Yamaha has invited Reid Taylor, a very fast young Australian, KTM France will “drop back down” Calvin Fonvieille to his preferred category, Triumph Germany has signed one of the brand’s rising stars in America, Hamden Hudson, while SR Honda is working to finalize the participation of either the multiple Arenacross champion and 2021 Prince of Paris Kyle Peters or the 2026 Arenacross US leader, Isaiah Clark…

But the main attraction of this SX2 category will be the first SX appearance of the phenomenal Sacha Coenen who, at just 20 years old (he celebrates his birthday jointly with his twin brother Lucas a few days before Paris), has electrified crowds around the globe this season including America -where he won three of the four outdoor races he contested, one of which involved breaking his collarbone mid-race -with his extraordinary fighting spirit! Will the official KTM rider be able to translate his immense MX talent into effectiveness on an SX track right from the start? The whole world is asking itself this question and won’t miss a single moment of what promises to be a spectacular show, given Sacha’s fiery temperament….

The Programme

In both SX1 and SX2, three qualifying heats will be held each evening (new this year: the longer “final” will be worth double points), while the juniors will compete in a single grand final as the opening act. Between these races, the traditional Bud Racing “Superpole” will get the Arena pumping, an atmosphere that the FMX riders will further electrify! The Monster Energy Freestyle Show will once again feature the “best of the best” with two of the best freestylers of the moment, Julien Vanstippen and José “Mincha” Canosa, who have dominated the gold medal count at various X-Games events this season and will face off in the highly anticipated “best trick contest” at the end of the evening. Joining them will be the excellent Nicolas Texier and a fourth world-class freestyler.

A full programme

SX, FMX, entertainment: here’s the programme for each of the two evenings, starting at 7:00 PM on Saturday and 2:00 PM on Sunday. The doors of the Plenitude Arena will open much earlier – at 2:00 PM on Saturday and 10:30 AM on Sunday – for those who want to watch the practice sessions. It’s already nearly impossible to find tickets for Saturday evening, and the same is true for Sunday afternoon. So, a word of advice: don’t delay and go to the event website to reserve your tickets (and find all the additional information)!

https://www.supercrossparis.com/billetterie/