The 2009 European Champion and 2010 Italian MX2 champion shared an awning in the Yamaha Monster Energy Gariboldi team with Harri Kullas for a first ‘chew’ of Grands Prix in 2010 and although the immensely gifted racer was able to savor his ‘mouthful’ on several occasions it was also a term that was tricky to digest. A pesky thumb ligament provided fans with only fleeting glimpses of the Corsican in full flight and the rookie was not able to get near the domination that he slam-dunked on the Euro series but Charlier was quick and completed a noteworthy ‘education’ at the first time of asking in the FIM World Championship.

Charlier’s exceptional handling of a motorcycle through the bumps, ruts, rhythm sections and berms of a motocross circuit marks him as one of the brightest talents in Europe and 2011 will be a vital season for him to further establish his name. Along with Kullas and Charlier’s slightly-more-experienced friend in the other half of the Yamaha Monster Energy wing, Gautier Paulin, Monster Energy have a young, energetic and fantastically promising line-up in the MX2 division and on the light and flickable 250cc four-stroke dirt-bikes.