Reigning Arenacross champ Thomas Ramette and his team-mate Cyrille Coulon have a weekend to remember at Europe’s biggest indoor SX…
For SR75 team boss Geoff Walker the dream of racing at the Paris/Lille Supercross with Cyrille Coulon and Thomas Ramette was realised at the weekend and he feels that the positives, experience and coolness of racing this historic event has elevated his team further.
The team’s 2017 SR75 RM-Z450s were prepped to perfection and ready to roll with the riders looking fresh and sparkling in true ‘Bercy History’ style…
Both guys performed excellently on Saturday to run 5-6 in free training and 6-8 in timed training with TR just 0.3 seconds off USA superstar and Factory Suzuki racer Justin Barcia in pole position.
The night show is off the scale at Lille and beams live on TV all over the world. Thomas and Cyrille raced the first SX1 Semi and with only five places up for grabs to make a direct transfer to the Superpole and Main Event this was a tense time for the team…
TR6 got us off to the perfect start, taking the lead from Marvin Musquin with CC5 also in the top five. As the semi ran down Thomas sat a smooth third from Cyrille in a solid fourth for a dream start to the weekend.
The guys were up for it again in Superpole and Cyrille put in a solid time before Thomas nailed an incredible lap to finish fourth fastest behind AMA stars Musquin, Malcolm Stewart and Christian Craig and just ahead of Barcia.
The guys bossed some great starts with their FMF-powered Suzuki motors in the 18-lap Main Event with TR6 running strong in second behind Musquin for a few glorious laps and CC was working hard as he ran up into the top six in great company.
Thomas took some heat during the mid laps and dropped to fifth after losing a little rhythm and tightening up on the gnarly track. The guys ran 5-6 for a long time but just succumbed to their early efforts in the final laps, ending 6-8 at the flag.
With one session of timed training done and dusted on day two the organisers moved some of the top Euros – including TR6 and CC5 – to the second session where it was impossible to make a good time as the track was nowhere near its best.
Cyrille controlled his cruise due to the conditions but Thomas was trying his best to get a decent time and while switching lines in the whoops to avoid a slow rider he took a big digger, landing on his head in the rutted dirt.
Within minutes he was in a neck brace and on his way to hospital for scans. This was a tough few hours for all the team but in true TR style the smile didn’t leave his face for long as he was loaded and taken away while our pit crew Yoann and Julien prepped both bikes in case Thomas could make a return to the track.
With the show already starting the message arrived from TR to prep his gear as he wanted to take the start to see how his neck felt – the scans came back clear and he wanted to see if the adrenalin could take him to the level required to race.
CC5 put on a masterclass of control, running strong early laps in his Semi to claim fourth place and another direct transfer. TR6 got off to a tentative start at the back of the pack in his Semi – even rolling the triple on lap one – but quickly began to build, working perfect lines and carving through the pack an amazing third behind Musquin and Stewart.
Superpole was controlled due to our no-risk strategy and Cyrille enjoyed his lap of glory, entertaining his home crowd in Northern France with whips, no-handers and no-footers while Thomas put on a smooth display of pure speed.
Both guys started the Main Event buried in the pack but began fighting their way through with Thomas pushing up to fourth within a couple of laps. Cyrille ride like a boss for the full 18 laps to run out with a fantastic seventh place but Thomas, while fighting for position, crashed after the rider in front made a small line change.
Stuck under his bike with just a few laps remaining, he was out of the battle but the positives of his performance easily out-weigh this single negative.
The pride we have in our riders and our team is beyond description and we thank everyone who enjoys, helps and supports us in our amazing racing adventures.
