Former 125 and 250cc world champion Sebastien Tortelli has used the opening night of the Paris-Bercy Supercross to announce his retirement from racing.
The flying Frenchman, frequently injured in the AMA championships between 1999-2005, returned to Europe in 2006 to try and repeat his 1998 title victory over Stefan Everts during the great Belgian's final season.
However, although often a match for the then nine-times world champion in terms of speed, Tortelli again saw his title hopes destroyed by injury - the factory KTM rider sustaining a dislocated hip in the Grand Prix of Portugal, round three of the series.
Sebastien was forced to miss the rest of the season as a result and, when KTM announced a 2007 line-up without the Frenchman, his racing future looked in serious doubt.
At Bercy, in front of his adoring home fans, Tortelli - with tears in his eyes - formally confirmed that, because of the repeated injuries he has suffered over the years, he can no longer give 100% and so will regrettably retire at the age of 28.
