Pourcel is 2006 'King of Bercy'.

2006 MX2 world champion, Christophe Pourcel, has been crowned 'King of Bercy' after three nights of Supercross action in Paris.

The Frenchman took overall honours due to a combination of speed and particularly consistency - main rivals David Vuillemin and Josh Grant were as fast, if not faster, than the young Kawasaki star, but mistakes and mechanical problems denied them a chance of the overall crown.

The younger Pourcel brother (Sebastien was also racing, but not on frontrunning pace) arrived at Bercy fresh from training in the USA - and brought a Pro Circuit tuned Kawasaki with him for the 24th Paris-Bercy Supercross, Europe's biggest SX event.

Pourcel got his Bercy weekend off to a perfect start with victory on Friday, having inherited the lead when rising AMA star Grant was thrown spectacularly over the handlebars of his Honda through the vicious whoops section, and didn't rejoin.

Prior to his fall, Grant - winner of his semi-final - had looked unlikely to be caught, especially since Vuillemin - winner of the other semi-final - had retired on lap two with a technical problem. In their absence, American Justin Brayton took second place on his Bercy debut with Frenchman Pierre Alexandre Renet third.

Saturday night saw Vuillemin, riding with an engine borrowed from Renet, bounce back from his Friday disappointment by adding yet another Bercy victory to his CV, but second for Pourcel maintained his confident lead in the overall standings.

Grant was again looking threatening, and led the first five laps, but then suffered another fall, but fought his way back into the lead on lap ten of 15... only to fall again! This time it was permanent and the unlucky American recorded his second DNF in as many nights. That left Vuillemin and Pourcel to battle for victory, with the more experienced Vuillemin - a former AMA Supercross winner - gaining the upper hand, while American Jason Lawrence completed the podium in third.

Sunday's third and final main event saw Vuillemin clinch another victory, and prove what might have been without the day one retirement, while countryman Pourcel was crowned King of Bercy - despite falling at the first turn!

While Christophe remounted, Grant again took an early lead - ahead of Vuillemin, former MX2 world champion Antonio Cairoli and Renet - but couldn't hold off DV12 and the Frenchman put his Honda ahead on lap three of 15. Grant then maintained a safe second to at least salvage a podium from his French adventure, while Renet repeated his excellent Friday result with third.

"It was great to see so many fans cheering us, and that's the secret of Bercy," said Vuillemin. "It was a challenge for me to come here and race with a 250 four-stroke, but I like challenges. I want to thank the NGS team, because if they hadn't offered me an engine after my problem on the first night then I couldn't have raced."

But despite Vuillemin's two wins, fifth for Pourcel meant he was crowned King of Bercy - on only his second attempt - while France also celebrated victory in the team event. Indeed, Frenchmen filled the top four places on the overall classification, with the impressive Renet second to Pourcel, Vuillemin third and Eric Sorby fourth.

Brayton, who crashed in Sunday's main, was fifth overall and the first foreign rider, with Grant seventh overall, Mike Alessi 13th and Mike Brown just 17th.

Paris-Bercy Results - Friday: 1.C.Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki); 2.Brayton (USA, Yamaha); 3.Renet (FRA, Honda); 4.Sorby (FRA, Kawasaki); 5.Alessi (USA, KTM); 6.Dub? (CAN, KTM); 7.Musquin (FRA, Kawasaki); 8.Brown (USA, Honda); 9.Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha); 10.Vongsana (FRA, KTM); 11.Reardon (AUS, Kawasaki); 12.Coulon (FRA, Honda); 13.Grant (USA, Honda); 14.Lawrence (USA, Yamaha); 15.Vuillemin (FRA, Honda)
Paris-Bercy Results - Saturday: 1.Vuillemin (FRA, Honda); 2.C.Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki); 3.Lawrence (USA, Yamaha); 4.Renet (FRA, Honda); 5.Brayton (USA, Yamaha); 6.Coisy (FRA, Honda); 7.Aubin (FRA, Yamaha); 8.Lesage (FRA, Honda); 9.S.Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki); 10.Sorby (FRA, Kawasaki); 11.Dube (CAN, KTM); 12.Reardon (AUS, Kawasaki); 13.Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha); 14.Grant (USA, Honda); 15.Vongsana (FRA, KTM); 15.Alessi (USA, KTM)

Paris-Bercy Results - Sunday: 1.Vuillemin (FRA, Honda); 2.Grant (USA, Honda); 3.Renet (FRA, Honda); 4.Sorby (FRA, Kawasaki) ; 5.C.Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki); 6.Coisy (FRA, Honda); 7.Soubeyras (FRA, Yamaha); 8.S.Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki); 9.Musquin (FRA, Kawasaki); 10.Rombault (FRA, Kawasaki); 11.Osborne (USA, KTM); 12.Brayton (USA, Yamaha); 13.Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha); 14.Alessi (USA, KTM); 15.Brown (USA, Honda).