Gautier Paulin Announces He Will Retire Following 2020 MXGP Season
After two years with the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing team, Gautier Paulin has announce he will retire following the completion of the 2020 FIM Motocross World Championship. Paulin has totaled nine overall Grand Prix wins in his career and five victories in the FIM Motocross of Nations with Team France. Paulin won a moto at the MXGP of Flanders on October 18, 2020, before finishing fifth in the second moto to take second overall to Honda HRC’s Tim Gajser, who finished 2-1 on the day. Paulin’s last overall MXGP win came at the 2017 MXGP of Europe in Valkenswaard aboard a Rockstar Energy Husqvarna FC 450.
He recently told our Adam Wheeler in an interview that he had broken his back during a training incident in May.
“It was really emotional. When I train then I do it to be #1. When I commit then I do it with the best momentum, with my diet, sleeping, the family side. I do it all for the result. So, everything that has happened had been really frustrating. I did not want to mention that I had broken my back in May.”
Read the full interview with Paulin following the MXGP of Limburg.
Through 15 rounds of the 2020 championship, Paulin sits sixth in points. His announcement comes not long after veteran Belgian contender Clement Desalle announced the 2020 Grand Prix season will be his last, as well, so the '21 MXGP gate will definitely sense a generational change.
Below is Paulin's Instagram post:
“It is with a great deal of emotion that I have decided to call «time» on my career. I have dedicated my whole life to my sport and it has made me the man I am today. I had a wonderful awakening in 2007 when I signed my first pro contract and won my first title. It set me on a path I had dreamt of. I'm so grateful that I got to fight with the best riders in the world, gain the trust of the most prestigious companies and brands, wear my nation's jersey for eleven consecutive years at the Motocross of Nations and win the event.
I love challenges, performance, hard work, and having the desire to give my best.
I’ve experienced indescribable feelings of joy, I’ve led the MX2 and MXGP world championships, sang the Marseillaise with the public, and lived through strong emotions that have marked me forever. I also have the most unbelievable fans and I humbly thank every single one of them as well as every single person that helped or believed in me for the last fifteen years and more. Sport unites us.
Now it is time for the next chapter. #GP21”
