He was a star, like Ricky Johnson and Jeremy McGrath before him. An attraction after having taken the technical level of supercross to a new dimension with a lot of whips and scrubs. He had never left the USA. In November 2008, James Stewart arrived in Paris. The shock… A few days before the 40th anniversary of the SX of Bercy/Lille/Paris, we remember!
The Tiger Woods of supercross, first African-American to shine in an off-road discipline. And in what way! James Stewart has been winning amateur titles since Big Jack, his dad, put him on a motorcycle. He was only 4 years old then. Stewart is a nugget hatched by Kawasaki and Fox, in the tradition of the other “monster” of the time, Ricky Carmichael. Here he is SX450 champion in 2007 with the greens at the end of a season where he won 13 of the 16 SXs on the calendar. He was injured in 2008 but came back strongly in the outdoors before announcing his signing with Yamaha RedBull San Manuel where he replaced Chad Reed under Larry Brooks. A thunderbolt for French fans who only know “JS7” on video, Bercy announces its arrival for November, a few weeks after its first race in SX at the US Open in Las Vegas. A performance because beyond the bundle of Dollars needed, it was necessary to obtain the agreement of the Yamaha factory. Done. Places are snapped up. Bercy is waiting for the star who arrives at Roissy 4 days before the show. On the organizational side, we take care of his arrival. The “boys” from Dirt Dictator are on the lookout to drive Bubba to the Novotel which adjoins the POPB. There are even two bikers from the National Police, fans of supercross, to escort him. In 2008, we are in the middle of an era of videos, DVDs and clips. For the first time, the organizers are orchestrating a presentation of the drivers like no other. A clip is shot specially to initiate Bubba's arrival in the arena. Afro wig in his bed, woken up by the phone, Bubba gets dressed, walks through the corridors of the hotel, reaches the reception where his YZF is waiting for him before taking the corridors of the POPB where he comes across poms here and there. cheerleaders, a candy seller and a terrified gorilla, all to the electro rhythm of Daft Punk. Bubba is welcomed into the arena like a rockstar, afro wig on his head. And who says rockstar, says special supervision.
Close protection
We make him a special box in the paddock to ensure his peace. We even find him a bodyguard. The corpulent, massive (but always smiling!) Christophe Meyer (who later became manager of Antoine Méo and the sand riders of the Honda-SR team) takes on the role like a glove. What an era! It turns into hysteria in the crowd who discover Stewart's scrubs, cushioning and this very particular piloting. Bubba almost never uses his clutch. It controls the power with the throttle and plays with the gears without a shifter. It was Big Jack, his father, who introduced him to this technique at a very young age. James is captivated by the atmosphere: “ I didn't realize how loud it was even though I had seen videos with McGrath », confides Aldon Baker’s new protégé. And as expected, despite Windham, Vuillemin and others, Bubba wins all the races in which he participates. He is good to come back the following year. This time we move into 4th dimension in terms of the opening ceremony. 15 years before Thomas Jolly and the Olympic Games in Paris (yes!), Larivière Organization is celebrating the arrival of JS7 in Bercy in Seine (ah, ah!). Stewart explores the “Parisian swimming pool” at night on the handlebars of a Jet Ski at the foot of the fabulous Parisian monuments. The horse is not silver. It is mechanical but just as colorful. We see spectators on the bank. Bubba is once again welcomed as a hero near the Ministry of Finance which is next to the POPB. He climbs on his YZF and enters a white-hot Bercy. Damn, that was something!
