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Holmes
Racing's Paul Holmes aboard his KTM
450SX ATV
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France (2/4/2011) - Paul Holmes takes 5th
Place at Le Touquet Beach Race The prestigious
endurance race 'Quaduro Le Touquet' took place
in Pas de Calais, Northern France on Saturday
29th January. British rider Paul Holmes rode for
MOTOLAND Seclin with team-mate Jérôme
Bricheux and finished in a very respectable 5th
place. Despite the freezing temperatures, this
spectacular event had over 450 entries for the
3 hour sand race which is a gruelling test of
man and machine.
During a 3 month long break from racing Paul
took the opportunity to work on improving his
strength and fitness. When offered a ride at
the prestigious Le Touquet Beach Race by the
French KTM dealership, ‘MOTOLAND Seclin’,
Paul accepted and used the event to kick start
his training program for his 2011 Quadcross
campaign which will begin in April.
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Each
year the Le Touquet ATV Beach Race brings
in over 1,000 spectators & ATV racers |
There are no practice sessions at the Le Touquet
event; riders can only look at the track before
starting the 3 hour non-stop race at 1pm on
Saturday. The event is open to teams of 1 or
2 riders with mandatory pit stops. Paul chose
to do the first half of the race with team mate
Jérôme ready to finish the race.
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Holmes
Racing's Paul Holmes was running in
3rd place until he got cross rutted
in one of the many sandy jumps causing
him to be tossed from the ATV
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Holmes managed a great start squeezing through
an incredibly fast and furious pack of quads
exiting in 6th place after the first corner,
quickly carving his way up into 3rd place half
way around the first lap. He gave chase to early
leaders Warnia and Couprie, learning quite a
few valuable moves by having these experienced
Le Touquet veterans in his sights. Holmes stayed
in 3rd place until, about 30mins in, he got
cross-rutted on one of the many jumps, came
off the quad and found himself tangled up in
the ropes. Disappointed with the costly mistake,
he remounted and put a charge on to catch back
up to the top 5 riders. Holmes stayed consistent
and strong up to the halfway mark of the race
when he pitted and passed the quad over to his
team-mate Jérôme who stayed strong
and finished the race in a very impressive 5th
place.
| 2011
Quaduro Le Touquet Beach ATV Race Results |
| Place |
Name |
| 1 |
Jeremie Warnia |
| 2 |
Jan Vlaeymans |
| 3 |
Matthieu Ternynck |
| 4 |
Clemont Jay |
| 5 |
Paul Holmes / Jérôme
Bricheux |
| 6 |
Joe Maessen |
| 7 |
Yoann Cyclet / Seb Cornier |
| 8 |
Axel Dutrie / Mickael Vinchon |
Paul's 5th place at Le Touquet was admirable
especially as he's only ever participated in
this event 3 times, the last time being 3 years
ago. He was the highest British finisher this
year and also the 2nd highest non-French rider
in the overall classifications. Paul commented
after the race:
“I have really enjoyed the preparation
and this event and I’m pleased with the
overall result. This was an excellent training
opportunity for myself and I am really looking
forward to the next couple of months testing
before the new Quad Cross season starts in April.
I would like to say a huge thanks to the following
people who made this event possible, Jean-Luc
from MotoLand, Seclin, Axel from Drag’on
Distribution and all the team who helped at
the testing sessions and the race. I would also
like to thank all my great sponsors for their
continued support in 2011 and also extend a
very warm welcome to my new sponsors. I'm sure
we can look forward to a fantastic year!”
