Le Touquet Beach Race

[ciprian]

Yamaha break records on all fronts at the Le Touquet beach race

 

Le Touquet beach race

 

 

Arnaud Demeester, riding the Yamaha YZ450F of the Yamaha Motor France Ipone team, established a new record by winning the annual French beach race for the sixth time, beating the old record held by Dutchman Kees Van der Ven, the winner of five editions between 1982 and 1986. The official Yamaha YFZ450 quad crew with riders Blaise Parent and Romain Couprie of the same official Yamaha team as DeMeester won the Quad race, leading three other Yamaha duos to fill the top four.

 

At 12h55 the 922 motorcycles started for almost three hours of beach racing. Jean-Charles Lenain took the holeshot, followed closely by Yves Deudon and Arnaud Demeester close behind. Despite the difficult weather conditions with wind and rain, the fastest riders reached impressive speeds of between 160 and 170 km/h on the straight that leads to the ‘Merlimont’ turn. One hour in the race Timotei Potisek was in the lead before the first rider stops took place.

 

Arnaud Demeester

 

 

Two rider stops are scheduled after the first and second hour of racing to give the rider the opportunity to recover, refuel and make bike adjustments if necessary. 40 minutes into his second stint Potisek had to retire due to mechanical problems. Meanwhile, Arnaud Demeester had arrived at the second place and quite soon took over the lead from the new frontrunner Deudon. Demeester would stay in front for the remainder of the race and after two hour and fifty minutes of racing he finally became Le Touqet’s new record holder with six victories, a title he just missed last year when he finished second.

 

“It was my day today”, he said on stage. “I cannot believe it. My whole career I waited for this. I think of Jean-Claude Olivier (President of Yamaha Motor France) who must be in front of the TV. I’d like to dedicate my victory to him. I’m here today thanks to him, he changed my life. And I also like to thank all the people who supported me during the years.”

 

Fellow YZ450F rider Pierrick Paget completed the podium with a third position finish behind Deudon (Kawasaki).

 

 

An even greater success Yamaha celebrated at the Quad race, with a total of seven YFZ450 four wheelers completing the top 10, of which four placed at the very top of the ranking. Ever since 2004 the Yamaha YZF450 has won the Le Touquet race, making it the machinery to compete with for any rider wanting to be in for the win.

 

Being the winning duo of the 2006 edition, Blaise Parent and Romain Couprie were the hot favorites for the win. Parent won the event already four times out of eight participations, while the success record of his teammate Couprie is equally impressive with two wins out of four participations.

 

The duo had a bad start of the race. Initially being in third position, Couprie was relegated to 20th after he was caught in a ‘traffic jam’ at the first corner. Yet it only took him three laps to reel in the riders in front and keep the lead. After one and half hour of racing Couprie handed the bike to Parent, who enjoyed an advantage of almost one lap at the start of his stint. Parent defended this huge lead achieved by his team mate with ease to add another win to their winning tally, leading 265 other finishers out of 347 starters.

 

 

Results Motorcycle

1. 6 A. Demeester YAMAHA 2:49:59.841

2. 19 Y. Deudon KAWASAKI 4:19.099

3. 3 P. Paget YAMAHA 8:10.728

4. 4 T. Bethys HONDA 9:19.159

5. 14 R. Vergriete YAMAHA 15:16.676

6. 59 S. Potisek HONDA 17:34.481

7. 70 V. Thiollier HONDA 1 lap

8. 41 V. Cambier KTM 1 lap

9. 172 J. Gilbert KAWASAKI 1 lap

10. 21 B. Schots YAMAHA 1 lap

 

Best lap: T. Potisek (N°1) in 11:42.516 with an average of 79,43 km/h.

Results Quad

1. 1 B. Parent / R. Couprie YAMAHA 3h09:54.339

2. 44 V. Pinchon / G. Lassaigne YAMAHA 5:59.173

3. 2 M. Ternynck / C. Jay YAMAHA 7:29.511

4. 4 P. Rochereau / J. Gazon YAMAHA 1 lap

5. 3 J. Gomes KTM 1 lap

6. 9 R. Lemaire / R. Haesaert WTEC 1 lap

7. 47 A. Dutrie / C. Debouck YAMAHA 1 lap

8. 24 J. Mitchell WTEC 1 lap

9. 13 Y. Hermant / A. Hermant YAMAHA 1 lap

10. 12 M. Trannin YAMAHA 1 lap

 

Best lap: B. Parent / R. Couprie (N°1) in 6:25.455 with an average of 72,85 km/h.