Genoa, final round of the European Supercross.

16 Nov: The final round of the European Championship was held last weekend in Genova, Italy.

SX1: Kevin Windham (Honda) won in Australia last month and made a quick trip to Genoa, Italy, with Jeremy McGrath and Justin Barcia. Windham won both motos in differing formats compared to American Supercross and both McGrath and Barcia crashed out.

The best of the Europeans was Frenchman Gautier Paulin (Yamaha), who has some American Supercross experience, went 2-2. Another Frenchman, Alexandre Rouis (Honda) was 3rd. Cairoli scored a 4-7 night to take 5th, well behind Windham in both races.

In the second SX1 Final Windham was followed again by Paulin and 3rd was yet another Frenchman, Gregory Aranda (BUD Kawasaki), who managed to become the new European Champion with 83 points, preceding French Alexandre Rouis (Honda) with 66 points.

In the SX2 Class, victory went to Italian Simone Zecchina (Suzuki), 2nd Josselin Pecout (France - Yamaha) and Samuele Bernardini (Italy - KTM). The new European SX2 Champion is the Spanish rider Carlos Fernandez Macanas with 42 points, the same as Zecchina, but with two victories.

In the SX Rookie Class, the Thomas Do (France - KTM) won the race in front of Dan Houzet (France - KTM) and Alexis Verhaeghe (Kawasaki), also the European Championship with 40 points in front of Houzet with 36 points.

Gregory Aranda EU Supercross Champion

Copy and photo courtesy of Kawasaki Racing.

Team Rockstar Bud Racing Kawasaki had a successful weekend, as Gregory Aranda claimed in Genoa (Italy) the 2010 European Supercross title.

After a disappointing GP campaign due to injuries, Gregory Aranda prepared the supercross season with dedication and entered the European championship with a strong motivation. Winner of the opening round in Marseille and second last week in Milano, he grabbed the title thanks to a sixth position during the final round in Genoa.

Marseille was the most successful event for Gregory, who won three of the four heats and got the leadership of the series. In Milano a huge public visiting the EICMA show came to watch the race, and Greg shares the wins with his countryman Cedric Soubeyras who was his main rival for the title before the final round. But Soubeyras didn’t attend Genoa, where Greg secured his title – the last one was the 2004 Cadet 85cc French on a KX Kawasaki – with a ninth and a third position in the last two races of the series. Next weekend the 21 years old Frenchman from Nîmes continues his Supercross season, and will enter the Paris Bercy Supercross.

Gregory Aranda: "This title is a nice reward for me and the team, as our season was not too successful with several injuries. Last year I missed this European title as I didn’t enter all the rounds, and it was one of our goals this time. The first round in Marseille was almost perfect for me, and then we came in Milan where the track was not enough selective; it was more a motocross race than a supercross, and many riders crashed on the wet layout. The track in Genoa was much better, but unfortunately I crashed in the first race; I can’t practice Supercross at the moment as it’s raining in South of France, and I had arm pump during the first heat when I was second behind Kevin Windham. The last race was better with a third position, but I’m disappointed with this results; I posted the second fastest lap in qualifying, then won my semi final and was expecting podiums. I’m looking forward to my next event which will be Bercy.”

SX 1 Final 1

1 Kevin Winhdham US AMA Honda 15

2 Gautier Paulin F FFM Yamaha 12

3 Alexandre Rouis F FFM Honda 10

4 Antonio Cairoli I FMI KTM 9

5 Christophe Martin F FFM Honda 8

6 Maxime Lesage F FFM Kawasaki 7

7 Angelo Pellegrini I FMI Suzuki 6

8 Jordi Tixier F FFM KTM 5

9 Gregory Aranda F FFM Kawasaki 4

10 Matteo Bonini I FMI Suzuki 3

11 Jorge Balbi BR CBM Kawasaki 2

12 Cedric Mannevy F FFM Suzuki 1

SX 1 Final 2

1 Kevin Winhdham US AMA Honda 15

2 Gautier Paulin F FFM Yamaha 12

3 Gregory Aranda F FFM Kawasaki 10

4 Alexandre Rouis F FFM Honda 9

5 Maxime Lesage F FFM Kawasaki 8

6 Jorge Balbi BR CBM Kawasaki 7

7 Antonio Cairoli I FMI KTM 6

8 Jordi Tixier F FFM KTM 5

9 Angelo Pellegrini I FMI Suzuki 4

10 Christophe Martin F FFM Honda 3

11 Matteo Bonini I FMI Suzuki 2

12 Cedric Mannevy F FFM Suzuki 1

OVERALL

1. Kevin Windham...1-1

2. Gautier Paulin...2-2

3. Alexandre Rouis...3-4

4. Max Lesage...6-5

5. Antonio Cairoli...4-7

6. Gregory Aranda...9-3

7. Christophe Martin...5-10

8. Jordi Tixier...8-8

9. Angelo Pellegrini...7-9

10. Antonio Balbi...11-6

Championships

SX1:

1 Gregory Aranda F FFM Kawasaki 83

2 Alexandre Rouis F FFM Honda 66

3 Maxime Lesage F RFME Kawasaki 63

4 Cedric Soubeyras F FFM KTM 61

5 Gautier Paulin F MCM Yamaha 56

6 Christophe Martin F FFM Honda 50

7 Fabien Izoird F FFM Suzuki 47

8 Manuel Rivas Gomez E RFME Kawasaki 34

9 Kevin Windham US AMA Honda 30

10 Mickael Musquin F FFM Honda 17

SX2:

1 Carlos Fernandez Macanas E RFME KTM 42

2 Simone Zecchina I FMI Suzuki 42

3 Josselin Pecout F FFM Yamaha 39

4 Francesco Muratori I FMI Suzuki 31

5 Samuele Bernardini I FMI KTM 25

6 Lorenzo Cucini I FMI KTM 24

7 Killian Auberson CH FMS KTM 19

8 Fred Guerin F FFM KTM 18

9 Yannis Irsuti F FFM Yamaha 13

10 Luca Pilotta F FMB Yamaha 13

Rookie:

1 Thomas Do F FFM KTM 40

2 Dan Houzet F FFM KTM 36

3 Alexis Verhaeghe F FFM Kawasaki 25

4 Theo Ramos F FMI KTM 23

5 Lucas Imbert F FFM KTM 20

6 Julien Lebeau F FFM KTM 20

7 Jorge Beltran Zaragoza E RFME Suzuki 19

8 Henri Giraud F FMI Yamaha 17

9 Nicolas Barcelo F FFM KTM 14

10 Jacopo Andrea Schito I FMI KTM 13