Unlike 4-strokes which simply roar, their engines crackle stridently, vibrate to the rhythm of the rpm, exhale a bluish smoke and smell of castor oil recognizable from miles around. In summary, they are much more alive than their sanitized cousins…
“They” are obviously the 2-stroke motorcycles which, although having been banned from Grands Prix after several decades of good and loyal service, still have strong supporters today for the reasons mentioned above.
However, these real mechanical gems that are the 2cc competition 250-strokes were almost no longer able to do in France what they were designed for: racing! It is therefore this observation which pushed Jerome Krebs to move heaven and earth to allow them to compete again on a circuit in our hexagon.
We therefore contacted him so that he could explain to us what kind of race we will see on Sunday March 25 on the Paul Ricard circuit, as part of the Sunday Ride Classic…
Jérôme, can you explain to us what the Klass GP 250/125 is?
Jerome Krebs : “In France, since the beginning of the 2000s, there have been no more 250cc speed races, following the cessation of this category in the Open championship. Only the 125cc remained. After that, most of these bikes turned to the mountain championship before stopping riding and staying in garages. Even though the Italians always kept some sort of championship, the situation was the same in many countries, such as Germany. There, they set up a championship again, and as I went for quite a few years to ride in Italy in 250cc, that gave me the idea of doing the same thing in France, especially since we were often a dozen French people moved to us. So it stuck in my head and we did a first race at Magny-Cours in 2016. It was a kind of test but we filled the field quite easily, which encouraged us to continue in 2017 where we did three races, in Alès, Magny-Cours and Paul Ricard. This year, four races are on the program. »
Filling the board, in concrete terms, what does that mean?
“At Paul Ricard, there are 50 motorcycles in the race and 60 in free practice. A little less on the other circuits because of track restrictions. At the Sunday Ride Classic, we had to turn down a dozen requests. »
What makes the Klass GP 250/125 different from the ICGP?
“Chronologically speaking, we are sort of the little sisters of the ICGP. We run customer competitions and Grand Prix motorcycles from recent years. The ICGP uses older motorcycles. This way, the two championships are consistent. »
The 250 cc Grand Prix, like the Aprilia RSA, stopped in 2009. Can we imagine seeing these bikes racing on March 25?
“Not quite, because these motorcycles are now worth between 300 and 350 euros. There will be a lot of them at the Sunday Ride Classic, but their owners will not take the risk of damaging them during the race, especially since the parts are impossible to find and therefore overpriced. On the other hand, to talk only about Aprilia, there will of course be RSWs at the start of the race, and a lot of Yamaha V000s. »
The race will also include 250 Sport Productions and 125 racing cars. For what ?
“Basically, our idea was to only take 250 customer competitions. But we had a request to accept the road 250s which ran in VMA against 4-strokes. So we made a place for them, and they have their own ranking and their own podium. The performances are not the same but they fit well into this 2-stroke event. »
On the other hand, extrapolating from the past, who will come out to win?
“The Aprilias are favorites because they are the most powerful. They were also already well equipped as standard, with Öhlins or WP, all gears that fit well, etc. Now, we will also have to take into account Guy Bertin, still spectacular and in great shape. He will have the old motorcycle of Sylvain Guintoli in the Grand Prix, but he will also have to count with Florent Martinez, Jean-Paul Clément, André Gouin, Arnaud Vincent and his Fantic GP (250 V2 2-stroke engine based on Yamaha, Suter chassis, made in only 4 copies), Soheil Ayari, Kyrian Hartmann, Bernard Fau, Vincent Levieux, etc. »
Regarding Arnaud Vincent, it seems that you are not at all a stranger to his return…
“Indeed, we have been working on it since July/August 2017, because it had been two years since he had ridden a motorcycle much. We tried to give him the motivation to ride in front of his fans again, and it gradually came back. It will be nice to have a world champion among us. »
With his world title, he will inevitably be the man to beat…
“Yes, but he’s not going with that in mind. Above all, he is there for fun, to have a good weekend and to have fun. But indeed, everyone will want to put their front wheel in front of them. That said, even if he hasn't ridden for two years, I think he'll come back very quickly and he still has some left in the handle. »
A great race in perspective, but also the possibility for the public to be present in the paddock and to observe at will, and up close, all the mechanical sessions. Something impossible today in Grand Prix…
" Quite ! Everything is accessible and it immediately takes you back into the world of Grands Prix from a few years ago, since these bikes raced until 2009 for the 250cc and 2011 for the 125cc. So you can approach not only these bikes but also the guys who change their pistons or their connecting rod assembly. On this subject, there is real mutual support between everyone. Being able to see someone working on a 125 KTM Grand Prix or a 125 Luyten is a pretty rare thing these days. »
For those who want to enjoy the show, which day will the race take place?
“Usually, we do two races, but as the Sunday Ride Classic is a big event with a lot of things on track, there will only be one race, on Sunday afternoon, after a warm up in the morning . »
An Internet site ?
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Useful link: Blog Dominique Duchemin
