Paris Supercross is finally back after a year off, and the 2021 edition of the event was one for the books. Three MXGP superstars, Antonio Cairoli and Romain Febvre on 450s, and MX2 World Champion Maxime Renaux all were taking the gate. As were a number of AMA Supercross stars, Marvin Musquin, Justin Brayton, Justin Bogle, among others. Chad Reed even came out of retirement for a one-off.
With the tagline “100-percent Supercross, 100-percent Freestyle, 200-percent show” the promoters did not disappoint. Some quality offseason racing was accompanied by Freestyle Motocross for starters. In addition to a man on a hoverboard/jet pack contraption, and a two dozen person foot race on the track. But the reason the stands were packed at La Defense Arena was for the racing. Who came out on top and become the 2021 Prince and King of Paris Supercross?
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250 Class/SX2
The defending Arenacross Champion Kyle Peters kicked things off with the opening holeshot, with Kevin Moranz in tow. The pair would let down the sails on the rest of the field in Sprint 1, with Renaux having a lackluster start. The MX2 World Champion had to then charge through the field but ended up costing himself a shot at fourth on the last lap on a block pass. A dominant run for Peters otherwise, he went undefeated in Arenacross for a reason.
Peters again picked up a holeshot, but Moranz who was great in Sprint 1, overshot the first corner in Sprint 2. This all but ensured that the latter would not be competing for the overall. Renaux, after another so-so start, ended up making up to second place. Once he got the runner-up spot, he cut a five-second gap to Peters down to nearly one by the time the Spront ended.
Peters pulled off the holeshot trifecta in Sprint three, with the usual suspects Moranz and Renaux in the top three behind him. Renaux then took a little longer than he would have liked to get by Moranz for second place here. By the team he did so, Peters was too far gone for the MX2 Champion to do anything. With a clean sweep of the action, Peters won the Prince of Paris crown going away. A dominant day for the Arenacross Champion. But for Renaux, the takeaway is that he is pretty solid as a Supercross rider. With proper training, he could cut it in the states if he ever makes the jump.
Prince of Paris Podium
No. 110 Kyle Peters 1-1-1
No. 959 Maxime Renaux 5-2-2
No. 57 Kevin Moranz 2-5-3
450 Class/SX1
No. 25 Marvin Musquin- Red Bull KTM AMA (1-1-1)
Flawless, that is really the only thing you can say about Musquin today. Three holeshots, three race wins, zero times passed. he could not have done better even if he wanted to. You can bring up the lack of whoops helping him out tremendously, but everyone else was running the same track and had nothing for him. In any event, the early returns of training with David Vuillemin full-time are tremendous. Hopefully, for Musquin, he can carry the momentum of this win straight through preseason prep and straight into Anaheim 1. Truly a spectacular performance on home soil. Now Musquin has won the King of Paris crown for the third time, good for second-most all time.
No. 85 Cedric Soubeyras-Team 2B Husqvarna (3-2-3)
Speaking of riders on home soil, how about Souby? Beating the two MXGP riders is one thing, but he also straight-up beat Brayton and Bogle today. Keep in mind, Soubeyras has just two career top 10s in AMA Supercross, both on a 250. All around great story here. Even better is that he and Musquin are great friends and went 1-2 in their countries top Supercross race. Nice feel-good story and a great ride for the veteran.
No. 10 Justin Brayton- MotoConcepts Honda (2-4-4)
Although it was a good day on the scoreboard for the 37-year-old, the headline people will be talking about with Brayton will be his last lap run-in with Cairoli. Brayton for whatever reason could not get by Soubeyras for second place down the stretch in Sprint 3. Hard to say if it was he was slower, or if he was just waiting on a mistake, but either way he couldn’t make anything happen. When he did try to go for the pass with two corners to go, he opened the door for Cairoli to make something happen, and make something happen he did. Brayton hit the deck and lost out on a Sprint podium finish. Afterward, on the podium ceremony, the body language would indicate that he was less than thrilled with the nine-time World Motocross Champion.
Finish to the 3rd 450 Sprint with Soubeyras Brayton and Cairoli. Brayton looked less than thrilled on the podium afterwards, and I'm assuming @JasonWeigandt even more so at home. #sxparis2021 pic.twitter.com/q2SF3rb41G
— Jack Gaffney (@JackGaffneyTDT) November 27, 2021
No. 22 Chad Reed- Mountain Motorsports KTM (6-5-3)
Reed ended up doing rather well for himself, especially considering his last race was over a year and a half ago. Sure the field wasn’t the strongest and the track, not the toughest but seeing where Reedy was his last few years as a pro, this was good. Here is to hoping he felt good enough to do Anaheim 1 one more time and get a real goodbye. Fifth overall averaging a sixth is far from horrible.
No. 3 Romain Febvre- Monster Energy Kawasaki MXGP (5-DNF-DNF)
Everything was going rather well for Febvre to open up Saturday. The 2015 World Motocross Champion started out qualifying third in the Superpole qualifying. Then he finished top five in the opening Sprint race. Even in Sprint 2, he kept Musquin honest, not letting his fellow countryman check out. Unfortunately, Febvre then wrecked super hard off the finish line jump. Bailing on his KX450 in mid-air before crashing hard on the landing of the triple. Febvre was taken off on a stretcher, and this was the last we saw of him. A real shame, as Febvre seemed to get in a rhythm in the second Sprint. Hopefully, he heals up quickly. Not to mention, hopefully, we see more Supercross out of him, he definitely looked good in the time he was on track.
Here's what the broadcast caught of the Febvre wreck, absolutely brutal. Hopefully it looked worse than it was. #sxparis2021 pic.twitter.com/FzUBvWzPWb
— Jack Gaffney (@JackGaffneyTDT) November 27, 2021
King of Paris Podium
No. 25 Marvin Musquin 1-1-1
No. 85 Cedric Soubeyras 3-2-3
No. 10 Justin Brayton 2-4-4
For those wondering about the absence of Cole Seely, it appears he never made the trip despite being advertised to do so. Now in regards to what sort of injury Febvre suffered, Musquin’s trainer Vuillemin said that he heard it is tibia/fibula related, but then said “don’t quote me” in a YouTube live stream. If there is any official update from Febvre or the Monster Kawasaki team, we will have something on that in any event. In regards to the event itself, very nice to have some Supercross to watch before Anaheim 1. Especially after last year where the pandemic destroyed any chance of offseason races.
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