“I’m retired, I don’t want answer any questions,” mused David Vuillemin, a two-time Vice-Champion during his career as an AMA Supercross competitor. Vuillemin was referring to his young French-born understudy and protégé Gautier Paulin. “Yes, Gautier and I have been working together for a while,” finally answered the good natured Vuillemin. “His ride in the main event was good. He was struggling a little bit in the heat race [Paulin made the 250 Supercross main event via the Last Chance Qualifier], but we came up with a strategy for the main event and it worked out really well. He was all the way on the outside on the start and got out and finished in sixth place. Overall, it was good ride. It was awesome. He’s been on the Yamaha test track only since December 20 and he raced a small Arenacross type thing back in France like two years ago. This all really, really brand new to him. His progression is unbelievable.”
Third in the 2010 MX2 World Championship Series – a series he led up to the halfway point during the summer – and the winner of the second moto of the 2009 Motocross of Nations in Italy last October, Paulin decided, with virtually no experience in racing supercross, to pack up his gear bag and compete in the first three rounds of the 2010 Monster Energy Supercross Series. Placing 15th at the curtain-raising Anaheim round aboard a borrowed #321 Star Racing/Yamaha/Monster Energy-backed Yamaha YZ250F, Paulin came back a week later in Phoenix and moved up the scoring monitors to 12th.
Around Midnight on Saturday, in the chilly and dark Angel Stadium pit area, we tracked down the 19-year-old former BMX World Champion, who raced the first three rounds as a privateer with support from Star Racing. And good thing we did, as Paulin will now head straight back to Europe to join up with his new benefactor, the Monster Energy Yamaha Team. Owned and operated by racing legend Michele Rinaldi, Paulin will begin testing and training in earnest to face off against 2009 MX2 World Champion – and fellow Frenchman – Marvin Musquin for the 2010 MX2 World Championship launching on April 4, 2010 at Sevliero, Bulgaria.
Gautier Paulin: Yeah, for sure. It is only my third supercross ever. It was really quick, you know, because after my injury at the des Nations [Note: He fractured his thumb in the third and final moto] I was coming back after three months. I only had a month and a half of training, which I started in December. When we came to America, it was raining a lot, so we started to ride just at the Yamaha track on the 20th of December. Everything happened really fast, so I was working non-stop as much as possible. It’s a great experience to be here, you know? I love supercross and I never rode supercross; I have just seen it on TV. Last year I watched AI and AII on TV. So now that I have ridden, I have learned some stuff. It was a really great experience. I know I can do something good here. I know it is difficult, I know I have to work hard, but I know I can arrive to something good. So now my goal is to ride in Europe, so I have to be happy with the three supercrosses. I was getting some good stuff. It was good for me, you know?
You placed an impressive, hard-earned sixth tonight. Are you happy with the result?
I had some crashes and I’ve done some good things technically. I had a bad qualifying heat, then I finished second [to Blake Wharton] in the Last Chance and I was completely outside on the start and I started like fourth. I was fourth for more than half of the race, but then I was passed and had a small crash in a corner that was a little bit slippery – I lost the front. I finished sixth. Now everyone knows I can be really fast. To be serious, I am never happy, but I think the place I could have been tonight was third but I finished sixth. But like I said, I don’t have a lot of experience. I just have three races. I mean, I just know five series of whoop sections now. I know the one from the Yamaha track, the one from Competitive Edge, the one from Phoenix, AI and AII. To be honest, I’m not really fast in the whoops. I think if I go faster in them, I can be much better.
So coming here, you had no American supercross experience? You had nothing to measure these races against?
No. The first supercross, I came into Anaheim I, I just knew [Jake] Weimer and [Trey] Canard and that’s it. I was just riding. I didn’t know anyone and I didn’t know the track. I didn’t know anything. I had no experience. I’m happy about it. It was a great experience. Now I know where I have to work. I know many things now. I know I have to be ready for next year. I hope to maybe be here next year to ride supercross and motocross. We’ll see.
I guess you’re a perfect person to pose this question to: How do you compare racing a supercross on a small stadium track with racing a Grand Prix on a traditional motocross circuit?
Yeah, for sure. It’s so different. I can compare the Grand Prix and the outdoors; I love to ride Grand Prix. But to ride supercross, I like that too, you know? It’s crazy. I don’t like to do the same thing all the time – even when I’m training or riding. I like change. In America, to ride three West Coast supercross races, it’s awesome. It was a really great experience and I’m really happy about it. I don’t have the results I want, but I need some experience and step by step I’m going to be better every time, for sure.
You placed third in the final MX2 World Championship standings and won the second MX2/MX3 moto on a 450 at the Motocross of Nations. How did you feel about your 2009 season?
Last year was a little bit difficult for me to accept the win of Marvin Musquin [2009 MX2 World Champion]. For sure, he was faster than me at the end of the season. At the start of the season, I was faster and was leading the championship for the first six races. Then he got the KTM and he was really fast. I had problems with my starts and every time last year I was starting in the back and we had some problems with the bike on the sand at tracks like Lommel [Belgium]. We lost a lot of points in the sand. I lost the Red Plate in Spain (round six) and that was due to many, many small mistakes, but last year was my first full season in the World Championship so now I know where I’m going to ride next year, what the tracks are like, and how I have to be ready. I have more experience with my bike now to know what I want with the suspension and the engine. I just know what I want. I want to be ready and I want to win the World Championship, 100 percent. That’s my goal and what I want. I’m going to work with David [Vuillemin] because he’s my friend and he’s really great and he helps me a lot. I’m psyched to ride for Yamaha, Rinaldi and Monster. They help me a lot. My agent, Glen Dempsey, he helped me to have a good deal. I feel like I have a family around me. Next year is going to be a great year. I’m going to do all I can and do all the training I can to be really for the World Championship.
For sure, I can beat Musquin. I showed him that after Lommel. I beat him at Loket [Czech Republic]. He’s a really fast rider, but it’s not just Musquin who is really fast. There are many fast riders, but he’s the World Champion. For sure I can beat him. I want to be fit, I want to have the best bike, I want to take the best starts, and then if I do it, I have the chance to be World Champion.
So if all goes to plan in 2010, what will you do in 2011?
Next year? I don’t know. I don’t want to say I want to come to America to ride supercross and outdoor, you know? Now I have a contract signed for 2010 with Yamaha/Monster/Rinaldi, so now I just don’t think about 2011. Now my goal is 2010. I have the contract and I want to do the best I can and then we will see. But now my goal, for sure, is working to win the World Championship.
I know you’re on your way back to Europe. Are you going to miss California?
Yeah, for sure. My choice was to sign for riding the outdoors this year so I’m going to be happy to see my family and to be back in Europe, but for sure I prefer the weather in California!
Okay, Gautier. Thanks for your time and have a good trip back to Europe...
Thanks, Eric. Maybe I’ll see you at a Grand Prix this season.
Third in the 2010 MX2 World Championship Series – a series he led up to the halfway point during the summer – and the winner of the second moto of the 2009 Motocross of Nations in Italy last October, Paulin decided, with virtually no experience in racing supercross, to pack up his gear bag and compete in the first three rounds of the 2010 Monster Energy Supercross Series. Placing 15th at the curtain-raising Anaheim round aboard a borrowed #321 Star Racing/Yamaha/Monster Energy-backed Yamaha YZ250F, Paulin came back a week later in Phoenix and moved up the scoring monitors to 12th.
Around Midnight on Saturday, in the chilly and dark Angel Stadium pit area, we tracked down the 19-year-old former BMX World Champion, who raced the first three rounds as a privateer with support from Star Racing. And good thing we did, as Paulin will now head straight back to Europe to join up with his new benefactor, the Monster Energy Yamaha Team. Owned and operated by racing legend Michele Rinaldi, Paulin will begin testing and training in earnest to face off against 2009 MX2 World Champion – and fellow Frenchman – Marvin Musquin for the 2010 MX2 World Championship launching on April 4, 2010 at Sevliero, Bulgaria.
Gautier Paulin: Yeah, for sure. It is only my third supercross ever. It was really quick, you know, because after my injury at the des Nations [Note: He fractured his thumb in the third and final moto] I was coming back after three months. I only had a month and a half of training, which I started in December. When we came to America, it was raining a lot, so we started to ride just at the Yamaha track on the 20th of December. Everything happened really fast, so I was working non-stop as much as possible. It’s a great experience to be here, you know? I love supercross and I never rode supercross; I have just seen it on TV. Last year I watched AI and AII on TV. So now that I have ridden, I have learned some stuff. It was a really great experience. I know I can do something good here. I know it is difficult, I know I have to work hard, but I know I can arrive to something good. So now my goal is to ride in Europe, so I have to be happy with the three supercrosses. I was getting some good stuff. It was good for me, you know?
You placed an impressive, hard-earned sixth tonight. Are you happy with the result?
I had some crashes and I’ve done some good things technically. I had a bad qualifying heat, then I finished second [to Blake Wharton] in the Last Chance and I was completely outside on the start and I started like fourth. I was fourth for more than half of the race, but then I was passed and had a small crash in a corner that was a little bit slippery – I lost the front. I finished sixth. Now everyone knows I can be really fast. To be serious, I am never happy, but I think the place I could have been tonight was third but I finished sixth. But like I said, I don’t have a lot of experience. I just have three races. I mean, I just know five series of whoop sections now. I know the one from the Yamaha track, the one from Competitive Edge, the one from Phoenix, AI and AII. To be honest, I’m not really fast in the whoops. I think if I go faster in them, I can be much better.
So coming here, you had no American supercross experience? You had nothing to measure these races against?
No. The first supercross, I came into Anaheim I, I just knew [Jake] Weimer and [Trey] Canard and that’s it. I was just riding. I didn’t know anyone and I didn’t know the track. I didn’t know anything. I had no experience. I’m happy about it. It was a great experience. Now I know where I have to work. I know many things now. I know I have to be ready for next year. I hope to maybe be here next year to ride supercross and motocross. We’ll see.
I guess you’re a perfect person to pose this question to: How do you compare racing a supercross on a small stadium track with racing a Grand Prix on a traditional motocross circuit?
Yeah, for sure. It’s so different. I can compare the Grand Prix and the outdoors; I love to ride Grand Prix. But to ride supercross, I like that too, you know? It’s crazy. I don’t like to do the same thing all the time – even when I’m training or riding. I like change. In America, to ride three West Coast supercross races, it’s awesome. It was a really great experience and I’m really happy about it. I don’t have the results I want, but I need some experience and step by step I’m going to be better every time, for sure.
You placed third in the final MX2 World Championship standings and won the second MX2/MX3 moto on a 450 at the Motocross of Nations. How did you feel about your 2009 season?
Last year was a little bit difficult for me to accept the win of Marvin Musquin [2009 MX2 World Champion]. For sure, he was faster than me at the end of the season. At the start of the season, I was faster and was leading the championship for the first six races. Then he got the KTM and he was really fast. I had problems with my starts and every time last year I was starting in the back and we had some problems with the bike on the sand at tracks like Lommel [Belgium]. We lost a lot of points in the sand. I lost the Red Plate in Spain (round six) and that was due to many, many small mistakes, but last year was my first full season in the World Championship so now I know where I’m going to ride next year, what the tracks are like, and how I have to be ready. I have more experience with my bike now to know what I want with the suspension and the engine. I just know what I want. I want to be ready and I want to win the World Championship, 100 percent. That’s my goal and what I want. I’m going to work with David [Vuillemin] because he’s my friend and he’s really great and he helps me a lot. I’m psyched to ride for Yamaha, Rinaldi and Monster. They help me a lot. My agent, Glen Dempsey, he helped me to have a good deal. I feel like I have a family around me. Next year is going to be a great year. I’m going to do all I can and do all the training I can to be really for the World Championship.
For sure, I can beat Musquin. I showed him that after Lommel. I beat him at Loket [Czech Republic]. He’s a really fast rider, but it’s not just Musquin who is really fast. There are many fast riders, but he’s the World Champion. For sure I can beat him. I want to be fit, I want to have the best bike, I want to take the best starts, and then if I do it, I have the chance to be World Champion.
So if all goes to plan in 2010, what will you do in 2011?
Next year? I don’t know. I don’t want to say I want to come to America to ride supercross and outdoor, you know? Now I have a contract signed for 2010 with Yamaha/Monster/Rinaldi, so now I just don’t think about 2011. Now my goal is 2010. I have the contract and I want to do the best I can and then we will see. But now my goal, for sure, is working to win the World Championship.
I know you’re on your way back to Europe. Are you going to miss California?
Yeah, for sure. My choice was to sign for riding the outdoors this year so I’m going to be happy to see my family and to be back in Europe, but for sure I prefer the weather in California!
Okay, Gautier. Thanks for your time and have a good trip back to Europe...
Thanks, Eric. Maybe I’ll see you at a Grand Prix this season.
