Webb and Peick make the show in Lille!
The actions of Friday, November 13 in Paris had only one purpose. To wake up the Western world to a world ruled by fear. But fortunately, many thousands have shown that no one can stop them from pursuing their passion. That fear will never rule and as planned, 'Bonsoir Lille' rang out at 19pm sharp in the Stade Pierre-Mauroy.
The evening started unusually this time with a speech by the chairman of the FFM, the French Motor Federation and a deafening minute of silence. Then the planned program started. The opening show with the presentation of the biggest stars present, and of course the beautiful pompom girls. Once the opening had been completed, we could start what most people are here for, supercross!
However, the first final of the SX2 class was a perfect fit for Maxime Desprey. The 'Prince of Lille' of 2014 showed that he is also one of the contenders for that title this year. The Bud Kawasaki pilot started in the lead and was able to withstand the pressure of an excellently riding Thomas Do to win the race, just ahead of Thomas Do and Yannis Irsuti. Maxime Desprey's team member Darian Sanayei finished in a creditable second place.
For the second final of the SX2, we had to wait to see whether the duel between Maxime Desprey and Thomas Do would continue. The answer to that is yes, but not in the first place. First place seemed to go to the American Darian Sanayei, who started at the front, but he could not maintain his own high pace. The American Bud Kawasaki pilot got Florent Richier over him and then made a crucial mistake in the whoops. This mistake allowed Maxime Desprey and Thomas Do, who had found each other again, to move to the second and third place after Florent Richier. Yannis Irsuti finished just outside the podium this time with a fourth place and Darian Sanayei ultimately fell back to thirteenth place due to his mistake in the whoops, a major disappointment.
The big boys were looking forward to a whole series of names. It is with confidence that you can say that this SX Lille has the strongest field of participants of this century. Including Romain Febvre, Shaun Simpson, Dylan Ferrandis, Valentin Guillod, Weston Peick, Cooper Webb, Christophe Pourcel and of course both Stewart brothers Malcolm and James! We were therefore looking forward to the superpole and the main event. We can be brief about the superpole. This became a duel in a few tenths of a second between James 'Bubba' Stewart and Chris 'Superman' Pourcel. Both showed that in one lap they may be the fastest supercross pilots in the world. However, it was the American who very narrowly outpaced the Frenchman. This could already count as a warm-up for the main event.
However, in this main event we got a British holeshot in Lille! Shaun Simpson took the lead ahead of Weston Peick and Christophe Pourcel. In the background, Malcolm Stewart delivered some strong declarations of love, eliminating Dylan Ferrandis. Half a lap later it was James Stewart's turn again. The two-time supercross champion fell just a tad short on one of the rhythm sections. This made it impossible to reach the next bend and that was where brother Malcolm rode. Both blessing down against the French earth. Malcolm soon climbed back onto his Geico Honda, but when James wanted to mount his Yoshimura Suzuki, the African American champion felt that something was seriously wrong with his knee. The scenes we saw reminded us of Chad Reed and Ryan Villopoto, among others, when he ruined their soft tissue in the knee. Let's hope that all in all it doesn't turn out too bad for JS7.
But back to the race where Weston Peick and Christophe Pourcel had already passed Shaun Simpson. These two seemed to be on their way to a fun duel, but when Cooper Webb joined this pair from seventh place, Weston Peick increased his pace a bit. A pace that Christophe Pourcel could not follow. Cooper Webb passed the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna pilot and in turn battled the tall JGR Yamaha pilot. Both Yamaha pilots went hard against hard and changed places several times, eventually seeing Weston Peick cross the finish line first. This for Cooper Webb, Christophe Pourcel, Valentin Guillod and Cedric Soubeyras.
Text: Matthias Van Eeckhoven – Photo: CDS
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