With two nights of intense bar-banging action already in the books for the 2011 Bercy Supercross, it was time for round number three and a deciding night of racing to determine  who in fact would be crowned the 2011 “King of Bercy”. The first two nights were split between GEICO Powersports/Honda’s Eli Tomac (Friday) and the Yamaha privateer Kyle Chisholm (Saturday) with both men getting second place when the other won. The “King of Bercy” title would come down to a winner-take-all situation between the two. Neither Kyle nor Eli had ever won an event like the Bercy Supercross, so the inner turmoil in each was more than likely brought to a boil during opening ceremonies on night three.

The first of the three major competitions to take place on a nightly basis in Bercy is the Superpole competition, a one lap race against the clock to determine who can throw down the fastest single lap of the night. On this night, the winner of the 1,000 € first place prize was Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Jake Weimer. Jake was only the second man all weekend to break the 40-second barrier, and he did so with a screaming fast lap of 39.8. Jake was followed by Kyle Chisholm in second with a 40.4 and the man that won Superpole the previous two nights–BUD Racing/Kawasaki’s Greg Aranda–in third with a 40.5.

Bercy Supercross - Bercy SX - 2011 - Jake Weimer
Jake Weimer was blazing fast in his Superpole lap and was only the second man to break the 40-second barrier. Photo: EspritMX.com

Superpole results:

 1 32 WEIMER Jake - 39.948
 2 11 CHISHOLM Kyle - 40.415
 3 20 ARANDA Greg - 40.504
 4 19 TOMAC Eli - 40.804
 5 800 ALESSI Mike - 40.860
 6 27 WEY Nick - 41.077
 7 1 BARCIA Justin - 41.094
 8 131 AUBIN Nicolas - 41.101
 9 7 TONUS Arnaud - 41.185
 10 871 IZOIRD Fabien - 41.282

The Eliminator:

The next series of races, the Eliminator, is probably our favorite format of the night. Rather than run lap times for the main event gate pick, riders race. It is a series of three four-lap races. In race one, fourteen men line up, and ten move on to the next race called the semi. From there, five men move on to the final. What makes this format even more interesting is that there is absolutely no time in between the races. Riders go straight from the checkered flag back to the starting gate.

The Eliminator on Sunday was all about GEICO Powersports/Honda’s Justin “Bam Bam” Barcia. After having two nights he would probably rather forget, Justin was wasting no time making up for them. The 2010 “King of Bercy” won his earlier heat race and all three of the eliminator races that followed–and his night would get even better from there.

Bercy Supercross - Bercy SX - 2011 - Justin Barcia
Justin Barcia was a man on a mission during the third night at the Bercy SX. Photo: EspritMX.com

The only real surprise to report from the Eliminator races was that both of the 2011 “King of Bercy” contenders did not make the final. With gate picks being decided by Eliminator finish positions, both Tomac and Chisholm would more than likely have to fight back from poor starts in the main events later on in the evening.

The Eliminator Results:

 1 1 BARCIA Justin
 2 32 WEIMER Jake
 3 20 ARANDA Greg
 4 800 ALESSI Mike

The main event:

With Tomac and Chisholm tied at three points a piece–and third place Nick Wey quite a distance behind with nine points–the final main event of the weekend would come down to the number nineteen or the number eleven. Due to not making the Eliminator final, both started off with gate picks that were less than stellar. Tomac elected to take the eighth gate on the outside while Chisholm, surprisingly, chose a second row start behind the inside gates.

When the gate dropped, it was obvious who chose well. While Tomac struggled and got hung up on the outside of turn one, Chisholm snuck underneath and came out near the top five. Up front, though, it was all Justin Barcia on this night. The man that was booed out of the stadium on Saturday had come back on Sunday and treated the crowd to a dominating day of racing.

Bercy Supercross - Bercy SX - 2011 - Kyle Chisholm - King of Bercy
This was Kyle's last pass of the weekend that somewhat cemented his status as the 2011 King of Bercy. Photo: Motoverte.com

Behind Barcia, Weimer was trying to keep the man in first honest, but a series of small mistakes would allow the number one Honda to get away for his first main event win of the weekend. Behind the front two, it was MotoConcepts/Team Alessi’s Mike Alessi and Cedric Soubeyras early on, but a man after a crown was coming and coming fast. By the midway point of the fifteen-lap main event, Chisholm had made his way up to third, and at that point, it was obvious that Kyle was about to be King.

Tomac–who got a horrible start–did all he could to close the gap, but in the end, the best the Colorado native could accomplish was a fifth place behind Mike Alessi–who crossed the line with another solid performance in fourth. At the flag, it was Barcia, Weimer, Chisholm, Alessi and Tomac in the top five. Barcia may have been disappointed overall on the weekend, but the Sunday night main event win was surely a nice consolation prize.

The big winner–with his third overall on Sunday–was “King Chisholm”. With a three-day tally of just six points, the currently unemployed Floridian took home the first major victory of his young professional career and a truck load of confidence to go with it. Tomac–with a fifth overall on Sunday–was still able to hang on for second overall–not too shabby for a guy that’s only ridden the 450 a few times since turning pro in the summer of 2009. Grabbing second overall on Sunday and third overall for the weekend was Jake Weimer. Jake seemed to find his share of bad luck over the weekend, but the solid Sunday performance landed him firmly on the box overall.

Bercy Supercross - Bercy SX - 2011 - Kyle Chisholm - King of Bercy - Justin Barcia - Jake Weimer
Sunday night podium - 1st Justin Barcia (center) 2nd Jake Weimer (right) 3rd Kyle Chisholm (left) Photo: Motoverte.com

 Night 3 Main Event Results:

 1 1 BARCIA Justin
 2 32 WEIMER Jake
 3 11 CHISHOLM Kyle
 4 800 ALESSI Mike
 5 19 TOMAC Eli
 6 100 SEARLE Tommy
 7 871 IZOIRD Fabien
 8 131 AUBIN Nicolas
 9 120 SOUBEYRAS Cedric
 10 5 COULON Cyrille
 11 36 BONINI Matteo
 12 48 MARTIN Christophe
 13 7 TONUS Arnaud
 14 20 ARANDA Greg
 15 27 WEY Nick
Kyle Chisholm - Jake Weimer - Eli Tomac - Bercy Supercross - Bercy SX - 2011 - King of Bercy
Final overall "King of Bercy" podium. Photo: Motoverte.com

Overall “King of Bercy” results:

 1. Kyle Chisholm - 6 pts
 2 Eli Tomac - 8 pts
 3 Jake Weimer - 16 pts
 4 Mike Alessi - 16 pts
 5 Cedric Soubeyras - 19 pts
 6 Fabien Izoird - 23 pts
 7 Tommy Searle - 24 pts
 8 Nick Wey - 24 pts
 9 Arnaud Tonus - 29 pts
 10 Greg Aranda - 30 pts
Kyle Chisholm - Britney Chisholm - Bercy Supercross - Bercy SX - 2011 - King of Bercy
To the victor go the spoils. Photo: Motoverte.com
Author

Dan Lamb is a 12+ year journalist and the owner of MotoXAddicts.