Well somewhat unexpectedly Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Malcolm Stewart maybe rode even better today at the Paris Supercross than he did yesterday! That allowed him to claim his very first King of Paris crown. Stewart, who swept yesterday’s three main events, took the Superpole contest to start the day off, closely followed Honda HRC’s Jet Lawrence in the first two main events and then pulled from Jett, then caught and passed Yamaha’s Cooper Webb to win main three. His 1-1-1-2-2-1 scores were more than enough for the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider to walk to the title ahead off Webb.
After a terrible night on Saturday, Jett Lawrence decided enough was enough on Sunday. He busted out a quad in one rhythm lane (Malcolm followed suit and they were the only two riders to do it) and laid down the law for the first two main events. But in the third one he wasn’t quite as good and ended up third behind Stewart and Webb. He might’ve gotten Webb there late but a lapper got in a way the last couple of laps. The Lawrences used stock engines at this race to make things easier on their team instead of having to build full race bikes. Jett said they were down six horsepower from usual, however, he also gave Stewart full credit for simply riding awesome and being the best man over the course of the weekend.
As far as Webb, the defending Monster Energy Supercross Champion (and last year's King of Paris) took second overall and was okay with his weekend, he had some things to work on with his bike and also didn’t jump the quad. Leading laps and being in the top three consistently was something that he was happy with.
After a hard get-off yesterday, Hunter Lawrence had some bruising on his arm and he cruised all three mains to top five finishes. He praised his Alpinestars helmet for saving him in a scary incident yesterday where he took a footpeg to the head, but the helmet prevented him from taking any damage.
As for Stewart, though, he was pretty much the man all weekend. That's even wilder considering he told me when the weekend began that he is a little behind in prep.
"I am getting back into it!” Stewart said after the race. “I was not lying, today marks day seven of riding and I just felt good. The whoops were in my favor, I did a couple of new rhythms out there including the quad that Jett started doing in front of me. I didn’t want to do it and I was counting, 1..2..3..did he just do the quad?"
He also remarked that his brother James won King of Paris honors 17 years ago. 17 years ago! That's painful to think about.
In the SX2 races, it was BUD Kawasaki’s Luke Clout who had won four of the first five main events while finishing in the runner-up spot to Honda’s Anthony Bourdon in the other one. He was looking good to win the overall until another rider made contact with him in main #5 and bent the bike bad enough that he couldn’t do all the jumps. That was all Bourdon needed to clinch the overall which made the French fans happy.
It’s just the off-season and it doesn’t mean much unless you ride like Malcolm Stewart did this weekend when he was a tour de force. Considering the amount of time he’s been on the bike, this was certainly impressive. Stewart used his whoop speed and was the first one to change up the rhythm on the lane after the sand to find a quicker line. Others eventually did it, but he was the best at it.
“Jett’s riding good, I just think for me I went out there and did what I needed to do and we ended up on top. It’s super cool to win this race after these years, I hope they bring me back!” said Stewart after the race.
Yeah Malcolm, we think you’re good for next year!
