Honda-mounted Andrew Short once again went 1-1-1 in three nights of racing in the Bercy Supercross in Paris, France, November 11-13, the American rider dominating again after having won all three nights last year. KTM’s Mike Alessi finished second with Rockstar Suzuki’s Mike Brown taking third.
The highlight of the weekend was the way Short went about his victories. His starts were like lightning quick and he knew once he got that part of his game together, there would be no stopping him.
“You know around a track like Bercy you need to make starts, and this year with the dirt being so hard, and slippery, if you didn’t enter the opening lap inside the top three, then passing was going to be really difficult,” Short said.
Second-placed Mike Alessi once again showed what a solid competitor he is under pressure, and his runner-up spot was a good result for the KTM factory rider.
“I am happy with second place,” Alessi said. “You know some strange things happened here this weekend, and with my shoulder injury on Friday I struggled a little in the whoops in the opening night. I felt better as the weekend went on, and I am really pleased with my progress from last year.”
Third-placed Brown looked brilliant on the last night, and only some arm pump stopped him from racing for a victory.
“I ran the first night with standard suspension, but when my teammate [Sean Hamblin] got injured I got his set-up and it made all the difference on Sunday night,” Brown said. “I came here wanting a podium place, and that’s how it worked out.”
On the Saturday night the sport of Supercross turned ugly. While Short was victorious on the second night of the prestigious event, the attention of the crowd was elsewhere as fist fights and riders totally losing their cool took over as the main event.
In the main event on Saturday, Short had a good lead and was being chased by KTM’s Sebastien Tortelli and Mike Alessi. Alessi passed Tortelli for second and had a slight lead over the Frenchman when Tortelli crashed off the track, losing any hope of catching Short. Alessi continued, but then all hell broke loose. French rider Eric Sorby, who was running at the back of the pack, decided to wait for Alessi in the Bercy tunnel section and then outright attacked him.
At first, Sorby moved his bike into Alessi’s path, stopping him from taking his racing line, and then he pushed his bike into Alessi. The out-of-control motorcycle nearly hitting Alessi in the head, Sorby then pointed his finger in anger at the 17-year-old.
In the meantime, Jeff Alessi arrived and stopped to help his brother (giving Mike the chance to get going again and finish second in the moto). The French rider then fought with the 15 year old and as the camera crew broadcast the entire proceedings on the big screen in the stadium. Both riders were banned from racing on the final night.
On the opening night, Steve Boniface had attacked Mike Alessi, punching the youngster in the face and coming close to being sent to jail for assaulting a minor after the two had come together on the racetrack. Boniface later wrote a letter of apology to the Alessi family, and they opted to drop the idea of getting the police involved.
