Ever since it first ran in 1984 the Paris Supercross has been a sturdy bridge between America and the rest of the supercross world

WORDS: Davey Coombs
PHOTOS: Christophe Desmet

Four of the world’s best supercross racers flew around the track of the jam-packed Paris stadium, giving French fans a true idea of just how impressive top AMA Supercross talent had become. This was exactly what the race organizers had hoped for with their boldly ambitious plan to export this uniquely American form of motocross, and the fans were eating it up. 

You might assume that I’m talking about the November 2022 version of the Paris Supercross, where AMA frontrunners Eli Tomac, Ken Roczen, Cooper Webb, and Marvin Musquin all put on an amazing show at Paris’ Arena La Defense in front of a capacity crowd, but what I just described was actually the very beginning of this international supercross tradition—the first race way back in March of 1984 at Bercy Stadium, which featured SX superstars David Bailey, Johnny O’Mara, Ricky Johnson, and Broc Glover. Their participation immediately put the Paris SX on the world’s supercross map, where it has remained for nearly four decades now.