It was back in 2008 when the victorious Team USA rider James Stewart went undefeated at the 26th running of the Bercy-Paris Supercross held in the beautiful Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in the Paris, France. Stewart claimed 18 race wins over three nights to easily top all scorers.

This was Stewart’s first visit to Paris and only his fourth trip outside of USA, and he was greeted as royalty by the Parisians, including a police escort from the airport. And for sure, Bercy is a race where the fans are as much a part of the show as the riders.

“It was crazy out there,” said Stewart. “It was kind of like Motocross of Nations but louder. The fans were great and for us, it was great to get another race under our belt. Before I came here I knew that the crowd was one of the best, but it was even more than what I expected. The atmosphere is incredible, I want to thank them for their enthusiasm and I hope I will be back next year. I'm happy to be here, it was a good weekend for me and each race was important for me to learn about my Yamaha. We did a great job here, for sure."

Kevin Windham took a while to get up to speed and ultimately finished in fifth, but in his defense, the Mississippi native was late signing his contract with Honda and has very little time on the bike since last Supercross season.

“I’ve just struggled all weekend,” said Windham. “I just couldn’t get going and I pumped up a few times. It’s tough racing against these guys who have been testing for a while. We knew we were going to come here and just try to learn a little bit but it sucks getting beat. It was a good showing for me, but I knew coming over here that I wasn’t really prepared so I just need to keep sight of why I’m here, what it means to the fans and what it means to the program.”

Finishing second in the overall points and second on each day was KTM’s Justin Brayton, who turned in a surprisingly strong performance. Brayton, who will be riding the Lites division in AMA Supercross, was riding a 450 at Bercy and he looked impressive throughout the weekend.

Windham got progressively better with each race and after some great battles with Bud Kawasaki’s David Vuillemin, ended the night and the weekend in third overall.

Saturday Results: 1. James Stewart (Yam); 2. Justin Brayton (KTM); 3. Josh Grant (Yam); 4. David Vuillemin (Kaw); 5. Kevin Windham (Hon); 6. Matt Goerke (Suz); 7. Marvin Musquin (Kaw); 8. Eric Sorby (Yam); 9. Ben Coisey (Hon); 10. Cyrille Coulon (Kaw).

Sunday Results: 1. James Stewart (Yam); 2. Justin Brayton (KTM); 3. Kevin Windham (Hon); 4. David Vuillemin (Kaw); 5. Steve Boniface (Hon); 6. Marvin Musquin (Hon); 7. Nicolas Aubin (Yam); 8. Jacob Marsack (Hon); 9. Christophe Martin (Hus); 10. Alexandre Rouis (Yam); 11. Cedric Soubeyras (Yam); 12. Ben Coisy (Hon); 13. Eric Sorby (Yam); 14. Josh Grant (Yam).

King of Bercy /Overall Results: 1.Stewart (USA, Yamaha), 6pts; 2.Brayton (USA, KTM), 18; 3.Windham (USA, Honda), 36; 4.Vuillemin (FRA, Kawasaki), 45; 5.Musquin (FRA, Honda), 53; 6.Boniface (FRA, Honda), 54; 7.Grant (USA, Honda), 57; 8.Coisy (FRA, Honda), 61; 9.Aubin (FRA, Yamaha), 71; 10.Sorby (FRA, Honda), 73.

A year later and everyone was expecting another triumph from a past King of Bercy AMA Supercross Series Champion, but what happened to the American racer? Stewart did not race the final main event of Sunday’s program, as he felt faint just before the start, and did not compete.

It was a bit strange … Stewart had won the previous two nights of racing, and seemed set to capture a repeat of his 2008 ‘King of Bercy’. The information came into the arena that he was in the first aid room, and would not compete in the final race.