Paulin’s quest for glory did not last a lap as he ran wide over the biggest jump of the course and clipped a trackside obstacle that threw him to the ground. The 20 year old was dazed but unharmed. Chisholm meanwhile took advantage of many crashes around him to move up the field and terrorise the back of MX2-GP World Champion Marvin Musquin.
Motoconcepts Yamaha’s Kyle Chisholm took his YZ450F to third position on the first night of three at the popular Supercross Paris-Bercy for a decent debut at the annual event and the biggest Indoor SX meeting in Europe.
The Palais Omnisports in the French capital was full to capacity for an entertaining and noisy opening evening in which Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross Team’s Gautier Paulin was able to shine on the YZ250FM in the opening half of the schedule while Chisholm was eventually able to walk away with the plaudits.
The narrow and challenging course offered a lot of grip and became harder as the night wore on. Paulin was among the fastest in practice and had the arena on its feet with a remarkable effort in Superpole to earn the quickest lap. The Frenchman then won the L’Americaine eliminator heat from main rival Justin Barcia. Chisholm on the other hand had a turgid time and started the Main event from the back of the gate.
“The night did not start well but it ended OK,” the American said. “It has been pretty hard with this being my first Bercy and getting used to the different programme. I struggled on the soft track in practice and it took a bit of time to get the bike set-up. I knew my fitness was good and the main event was a lot of laps. I made a decent start and just kept going.”
Supercross Paris-Bercy continues on Saturday where the same line-up will push for the ‘King of Bercy’ title.