It was in the sumptuous setting of the Gaîté-Lyrique, a Parisian performance hall initially built during the 18th century, that the annual press conference organized by the French Motorcycling Federation (FFM) was held on January 9, 2004.
Of course, as a federation of all bikers, the president Sébastien Poirier covered all the topics concerning these, from technical inspection to the purchase of motocross land through the arrival of electric motorcycles in motocross, but as enthusiasts of speed competitions on asphalt, this is the point which we will particularly shed light on today.
In front of an attentive audience, the president first insisted on the number one element that is important to him, safety.
Sébastien Poirier : “I'm not going to go too long, but in any case the idea is to be able to mark the 3 or 4 major developments of the season, and indeed, to talk about safety. You know that this is a subject that the Federation has been dealing with for 110 years, since it is a core role to ensure that it improves the safety of its pilots. There has been considerable work carried out on safety equipment on circuits in recent years. And then we are lucky to have personal protective equipment with new technologies, new tools, and to be able to transpose them to competition with airbags. And so the Federation has chosen to impose from 2024 on a very large number of speed competitions, on almost all speed competitions on major circuits, and for the vast majority of categories, the wearing of a vest or a suit with an airbag. This is a very important new feature. So obviously it's a constraint, because it's also a cost for the pilots, but we are convinced, I would like to thank Patrick Coutant and his entire team, that it will help improve the safety of our pilots. And it's a clear commitment to security: we really have to be very, very comfortable and very, very attentive to everything that can today allow us to improve the security of our pilots. And then our insurers present will be satisfied to see that it is really always, and in a way I would say consubstantial, the heart and a federal priority.
There followed a passage on thearrival of electric motorcycles in motocross, which will participate in the same events as thermal engine motorcycles. This follows an experience in Motoball which proved positive, so much so that the federation has just purchased 30 additional motorcycles made in France which will be added to the 15 already present. This does not currently concern the competitions that we follow, but this experiment will have to be followed carefully because, even if it has not really been mentioned, logically it will undoubtedly one day also extend to asphalt...
“Yes, we are, we are really on a major revolution since today, in the past, we had already integrated electric motorcycles, but generally mini motorcycles, that is to say that we were really on categories of young people, especially in Minivert. In enduro, next year, we will integrate it into Enduro, and for the first time in 2024 in Motocross, we will mix the championships, and for the first time thermal motorcycles will be confronted with electric motorcycles. So it's not simple because we are really in the midst of a systemic revolution. Very clearly, we are completely changing the models, but I believe thatAbove all, we must not close ourselves to electricity, because that is the meaning of the story. We are celebrating the 110th anniversary of the Federation, and these are 110 years of innovation, so I say it again, it is important, this is not the 111th year that we are going to close ourselves off to innovation. Electricity is arriving today, it's a reality, we have to make it our own. If we don't take ownership of it, it will develop outside the Federation. So we saw this year, we experimented, particularly motocross, with the diversity of machines, and the motocross commission, and I thank Jean-Pierre and his entire team, made the choice to follow through with logic and integrate these machines into our motocross competitions."
At the level of the French FSBK championship, the big news consists of the arrival of the Supersport New Generation in order to harmonize the French regulations with their international counterparts.
The wild card allowing entry into the 600 Supersport world championship will now concern the best French driver in the Stock category.
“Yes, we talked last year, I think there was a question from a journalist to find out what we were going to do, and so we made the choice last year not to change our regulation 600. We are constrained, in quotes, by a certain form of reality, we are also constrained by what is happening abroad and in particular in other national championships. So we made the choice, the commission has chosen to integrate these new machines into the 600 category, but we made sure, and I think it is very important for the future, to maintain a Stock category which almost corresponds to this current category, and especially the famous wildcard which is attached to the 600, well it will be attached to the Stock category. And the wildcard is very important for us, since we saw, and here I thank Vincent Thommeret from Yamaha and obviously Christophe Guyot for the GMT, because in recent years we have carried out real collaborative work which has enabled this that very, very strong drivers can try their hand internationally, Valentin Debise and more recently Johan Gimbert, who have thanks to this been able to show all their talent. SO we keep this wildcard attached to the 600 category. I wanted to talk about it because there were some questions about it, I really wanted to reiterate it very clearly this evening.
Always at the level of the competition, without in any way obscuring the French successes, like the victory of Johann Zarco duly congratulated on his first victory, the president responded to the answer to the question which torments all enthusiasts eager for a succession to our two champions in MotoGP, fabio quartararo et Johann zarco. To do this, he shed light on the other end of the pyramid by discussing the actions undertaken for the youngest budding champions.
« obviously, it takes a minimum of pilots, andt
so
the first
marche,
elle
is
leaves:on
a accès
Asked
championships
regional
on karting circuits. Monsieur the President
of the FFSA, we have the chance to pouvoir
work
a little with amenities
karting, et so
this
policy ofs
mbe
available
for
complete
the actions ofu
karting.
So
we have
really,
en
terms
approval, pass
a Cape since we
is
à
more than 70 circuits approved, And surtout do so
fits
in
une
long vision
spa
related to for sustainable
of
minimotorcycles.
So
we have
championships
minimumtos
et
and
we have
No.three:
championnat
of France Objective Grand Prix qui a known
a
good progress en
2023, since
us
have
more 20
pilots
en
rule
General
registered
and 25
je think
on the final, et so
of
gatherings
de
Mini OGP,
MiniGP.
Donc
there is a
something true
background work which is
led, et
and
we have
the team
from France who summer
reworkede
en
2023, with 3 pilots
accompanied, And with again a
time
internships at
the foreigner.
So
soft
je
think
that we
a
sow.
obviously, it's necessary being
patient. Johnann evoked
the
issues
de
age
have,
since
now
on
returns
en
Grand Prix at 18. On is
on
hole
generational
that we
is
en
train of
fill in.
On not'a
never
eu
much
de
pilots
à
rouler en
European Talent Cup, , here
is
le
a level
European
de
reference
et
, here
is
nearly
un
championnat
of the world with 13
pilots
en
2023. Thely en
a
a psmall decade,
je
parle
sall the control
for the
DTN, en
2024, which
theoretically
are
engaged.
So
voilà, la reports,
elle
is
leaves. We have have
of
pilots,
je thought
to Valentine
Debise
, here
is
to
young
doing more
, here
comes
du championnat
from France, we have Johan Gimbert
, here
is
engaged
in a
championnat
very
very
difficult and who comes
also
du
championnat
of France.
So
listen, we are lucky also
having
very
very
good
pilots
en
endurance, donc
je
thought
that certainly, the speed
French
not'a
no
pilot
en
Moto2 and en
Moto3 (the future of Lorenzo Fellon remains uncertain for the moment), doing more
we have a lot of pilots
French
in
tWhere are you
the
other
categories. And it needs being
patient, you have to being
patient, we
va
find,
I
suis
convinced, of the developments
talents and developments
champions. In all case,
enjoy
et
goutons
for
our
fun; ona the luck
having two people beautiful
ambassadors,
different,
Additional, Who will
us
allow
to wear
collectively
our
projet
Generation
Vspeed."
