That’s a wrap here in Paris and after four tries at this race, Monster Star Yamaha’s Cooper Webb was crowned the King of Paris for the first time. Webb came into the day with a nice lead in the overall standings based on consistent rides yesterday, and then did what he needed to do today to bring home the crown.
The second of three mains was a great one for Webb as he led over half of it with Honda HRC’s Jett Lawrence on him. The two went at it for a bit before the Aussie was able to make the move and pull away but it was a spirited attempt by Webb to hold Lawrence back.
"For sure it was nice, overall it was an awesome weekend, I was very consistent and we saw who the fastest guy was” said Webb after the race, in a nod to Lawrence. “I was able to lead today, the margin (to Jett) was closer than I thought I would be and I’m happy. Great weekend, finally won and I can put my name on that trophy with everyone else.”
Webb, making his debut race in Fly gear, was much better this weekend than he was last year, when he was not on the lead pace. He mentioned that there were a few fork changes but for the most part he left his bike alone.
Last night Jett Lawrence was in the lead, clipped a lappers’ rear wheel and went down. The Honda was too bent up to continue and that DNF cost him a shot at the overall. What happened in the other five main events? Yeah, he went 1-1-1-1-1 in those with somewhat ease. Lawrence busted out a quad in one rhythm lane in the morning practice and it took until the second main for Webb and then Gregory Aranda to start doing it as well. Webb mentioned that it was really big and you had to be perfect. DIdn’t seem to stop Lawrence though as he continued to air it out.
Lawrence after the race? “I’m tired.”
There won’t be too much rest for him ahead, and he and brother Hunter are headed to Australia for the Aus-X Open soon.
Malcolm Stewart ended up second overall with consistent finishes all weekend long and even led a couple of laps today as well. Afterwards he was happy with his weekend and said it’s a good start to the next season for him. One in which he hopes to be closer to riders like Webb and Lawrence than he was this past season.
Hunter Lawrence only stood on the podium twice out of six mains but he mentioned that both he and Jett took some time off and only have five or six rides on the new 2025 CRF450. Hunter seemed content with his weekend.
Dylan Ferrandis had a sour ending to a decent weekend when he went down hard on the start straight in the final main., That was it for him, a DNF but he rode off and was okay. He also mentioned after the race that he has moved from the Lawrence compound to Sandbox in Florida for training as it was closer to where he lives and Factory Connection has a shop nearby.
In the SX2 class both Red Bull KTM’s Tom Vialle and Honda HRC’s Jo Shimoda had crashes yesterday that left both of them off the box after three mains. Both needed to be almost perfect today to win this thing and Vialle did just that in winning two of three main events. He was almost never challenged out there and rode great.
It was Shimoda who had the issue after he took main event one win. Something appeared to happen to his bike with the gearbox and he pulled off early into the main event. The team swapped motors and he was back out there to get a runner-up spot in main three. It wasn’t enough for Shimoda, who won this race last year, to even get on the overall podium after two DNF’s over the two nights.
Anthony Bourdon was leading going into the second day but in the end, he was off the pace of the top two American-based riders and although he tied for the overall with Vaille, even he would admit that he was the third best SX2 rider on this weekend. Maxime Desprey, who won the French SX race ran earlier in the day, ended up third overall on the weekend.
Overall, a great weekend here for the 41st Paris Supercross. The crowd was into it and we some really unpredictable racing results as well. Between Jett Lawrence, Tom Vialle and Jo Shimoda, some mistakes were made by some big names. Cooper Webb was great all weekend long and if he’s a better Cooper Webb than we saw last year, well this 2025 SX season just got interesting!
