Kawasaki’s Jake Weimer crowned King of Bercy Supercross

Following three days of racing in Paris, France, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jake Weimer was crowned King of Bercy Supercross on Sunday. To win the overall and the title of King of Bercy, Weimer had to stay consistent throughout all three main events that spanned over the three-day weekend. Each night he was able to win his heat race and the elimination races leading into the main events. Weimer got two out of three holeshots on his KX™450F to win the 15-lap main events on Friday and Saturday, and finish second on Sunday. His 1-1-2 finish granted him the overall win and the King of Bercy title.

The Contender
In his second appearance at the Bercy Supercross, Weimer knew what to expect this time in France and was prepared for three days of tight competition. He kicked off Friday evening with a heat race win and finished second in the Superpole fast lap qualifying by only three hundredths of a second. Next, Weimer moved on to the series of three elimination races where the top finishers qualify for the next round. He was able to win the final two elimination races to place him as the top contender entering the main event. When the gate dropped for the first of three main events, Weimer grabbed the holeshot and began to count down the laps. He held a steady gap over the field throughout the race and overcame a last lap assault to take the win and take control of the event.

“The whole day went really well,” said Weimer. “There is so much racing throughout the day it takes a little getting used to. I got the holeshot and felt great throughout the whole main event. The last lap I had built a pretty good gap and it’s a good thing because lappers started to get crazy in front of me and allowed second place to close up, but I was able to hold onto it and start the weekend strong.”

On Track to the Crown
Night two of racing was a re-enactment on night one. Weimer ran away with his heat race win and came out on top of the elimination races once again to be the man to beat in the main event. Even though he suffered a crash while challenging for the Superpole win, it did not affect him for the main event. Weimer grabbed the holeshot and led every lap to take the win and stay undefeated. His perfect 1-1 score put him in the best scenario going into the third and final night of racing.

King of Bercy
Going into the final night of racing, Weimer was in control of the title and just needed to limit his mistakes to take the crown. He remained perfect in his heat race and won the final elimination race leading into the final main event. Weimer once again got a great start on his KX450F and rounded the first lap in second. Conscious of where his competition stood in the overall standings, he sat comfortably in second until a small tip-over dropped him to third on lap 12. Weimer needed to finish second to secure the overall and only had three laps to make it up. He quickly closed the gap and on the last lap dove to the inside to reclaim second place. Finishing second was enough to win the overall by one point and Weimer was crowned the 30th King of Bercy.

“I knew what I had to do to win,” said Weimer. “I was a little nervous all day because I was in the driver’s seat and it was my title to lose. The third day was, by far the toughest, the track was really dry and slick and since I had crashed the day before I was pretty sore. But I put myself in a good place going into the third day and was happy to get the win and the title.”

Racing Format
Bercy Supercross features a very unique format that has riders and mechanics going to the start line much more often. In addition to the typical heat races and LCQs, the riders then have to compete in three four-lap elimination races to determine gate pick for the main event. The last five riders are eliminated after each race leaving the top four to battle it out in the final elimination race. Weimer won the final elimination race on all three nights to give him the best possible gate pick for each night’s main event. Finally, the event featured a Superpole fast lap race each night where riders had one lap to throw down their fastest lap time. Winning the Superpole didn’t help you for the main event, but did have an extra purse for the winner.

“You have to do well every time you’re on the track,” said Weimer. “It makes it really difficult because if you have one mistake it’s going to cost you and because there are so many races, there are more chances of making mistakes.”

Take a Bow
During Saturday’s Superpole, Weimer was on track to post the fastest single lap time of the night. He had hit all his lines until the corner before the finish line where he got sideways going up the face of a double and launched off the track in spectacular fashion. Getting to his feet unscathed, the crowd went wild as he took a bow and remounted his Kawasaki.

“Racing overseas is always awesome,” said Weimer. “The fans are really enthusiastic and into the racing. They have their chainsaws and air horns, and they dress up in costumes, so it makes it fun for us to put on a show for them.”

Preparation for 2013
One of the primary reasons for taking part in one-off races like Bercy Supercross during the offseason is to give the rider and team a chance to try their new bike settings in a race environment. Monster Energy Kawasaki has been putting in countless hours at the test track with Weimer and teammate Ryan Villopoto to prepare for the upcoming Monster Energy Supercross series and often race conditions differ from the test conditions. Weimer was able to test his 2013 set-up at Bercy and clearly he is headed in the right direction. Monster Energy Supercross kicks off on January 5, 2013 at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif.

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