“ When you are a kid , in my situation in the Red Bull Cup , it wasn ’ t an option to go to 125 in Spain or GPs . Just because of the money ”.
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French Supersport rider than it is for Superbike , it seems to him and many others . A long time WorldSP rider from France , Jules Cluzel , has won 20 races now , and been runner-up three times . He knows WorldSSP well , but unlike many others his route into WorldSSP was from an other paddock entirely , and also included a spell as a WorldSBK rider . He understands very well it is easier for a BSB rider to enter directly into WorldSBK , as he states . “ I don ’ t know why WorldSSP is so French but I think WorldSBK is English ! To be honest in the past there were French teams , and also Alstare ( Belgian ) with Stephane Chambon . And then Fabien Foret . There were a lot of guys who were quick and maybe that is why the next generation wanted to come to the 600s . Maybe . For me it was different , I came from GPs then switched . I think now it is different . Completely different . Spain and Italy have Moto3 and then Moto2 in Spain too . In France no Moto2 - it is 600s and Superbike .” Cluzel ’ s current team boss , Christophe Guyot from GMT94 , is also not entirely sure why Supersport has had so many successful French riders , but thinks because it is so accessible in some regards . He is keeping the door open for his countrymen - and others in the Supersport class even now . “ I really do not know why the French as so good in WorldSSP but the only thing I can tell you , is that today , since 2019 , we have given a lot of hope to the youth as a wild card and everybody knows we will have one French rider in our team in any case . It is important to have this identity . But also to ‘ export ’ the value we have . To extend the wildcard in other countries . That is why I started at Most with the young guy leading IDM , Patrick Hobelsberger . When Federico Caricasulo left ( earlier this year ) I had many options . To have a regular top rider , not possible then we proposed to Valentin Debise to be a wildcard .” Sixth on the grid at Most ; seventh in Race Two . So very near the top even as a wildcard . Fabien Foret , the WorldSSP Champion in 2002 for the Dutch Ten Kate team , agrees that there is no single reason why French riders do so well in WorldSSP , but he offers a few opinions shared by some others . “ I think , to be fair , one of the leaders who gave the best example to me was Stephane Chambon . I always wanted to achieve this goal , winning the Supersport Championship , because of his inspiration . There were also a lot of French riders , Sebastien Charpentier , William Costes . We can also look back to the Yamaha Cup in France , with Adrien Morillas . So I think Supersport is in our culture and we just carry on with it year-after-year . Why not Superbike so much … I cannot really tell . But I recognise Chambon as a great inspiration for most of us . Budget is also a factor . Supersport is the highest level where you can start on your own in the French championship . With not too much money involved . Superbike has always been more money . I have done both 1000cc and 600cc racing in the French championship and my feeling is it was easier to come here from that class .” Florian Marino stood on five WorldSSP podiums in his earlier career , and he gave his personal opinion on France ’ s WorldSSP prowess over the years . “ I am not sure if I will be right but my experience in France the Supersport class is one of the most famous ones , because first of all in terms of cost and price it is more accessible in Superbike , for more riders ,” he stated . “ We have a class with 30 riders , whereas in Superbike it is difficult to reach 20 riders . In WorldSSP we have had people like Matthieu Lagrive , even Arnaud Vincent was riding Supersport . When you are a kid , in my situation in the Red Bull Cup , it wasn ’ t an option to go to 125 in Spain or GPs . Just because of the money . I
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