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Paul Holmes, Romain
Couprie, & Joe Maessen took the
win aboard their Team Audemar Yamaha
YFZ450R ATV
|
Pont de Vaux, France (8/24/2011) -
The prestigious 2011 Maxxis Pont de Vaux 12 hour
endurance team event was held last weekend in
the picturesque town of Pont de Vaux, France.
It was the 25th annual edition of the world
famous event and the competition was tougher
than ever. Reigning Champions Paul Holmes, Romain
Couprie and Joe Maessen teamed up again to run
the number one plate on the Team Audemar YAMAHA
and took an exceptionally stylish overall victory
in front of thousands of spectators. The team
have certainly made their mark in the PDV history
book, winning the race twice in 2 consecutive
years. The usual format of the 12 hour race
being split into 3 sessions saw Holmes and team
blast straight to the top of the timing screens
after the first 3 hour session, where they had
a comfortable lead over their rivals and had
lapped every one of the 96 teams at least once.
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Holmes
Racing / Team Audemar Yamaha celebrates
winning Maxxis 12 hour of Pont de Vaux
ATV Endurance Race |
After setting an amazing pace and winning stage
one, Holmes and team rode consistently, only
needing to push when necessary. This resulted
in zero bike problems, pitting only for rider
change-overs and scheduled fuel stops. At the
end of the race Holmes and team had a nice 2
minute cushion over 2nd placed French team,
Drag’on Laeger’s Yamaha. 3rd place
went to English team Rocketman Suzuki. Paul
Holmes and Team Audemar win Pont de Vaux 2011!
Teams 1 and 2 celebrate 1st and 2nd place
Holmes now joins the small list of riders to
not
only win this prestigious race, but to win 2
years
running. This major addition to his list of
achievements comes just two weeks after
winning round 5 of the European Championship
in Latvia. Holmes really has some momentum
rolling as he heads into his next event which
is Round 5 of the British Championship at
Langrish in a few days.
Holmes commented after the event: "I
am so pleased to have had the opportunity to
race again here at Pont de Vaux, It is an incredibly
crazy yet superb race held in a fabulous location
with the most incredibly enthusiastic and enormous
audience in attendance over a fantastic weekend.
Winning again whilst running with the number
1 plate from last year means a lot and I am
really happy. This race is unbelievably special
and at the same time exceedingly tough and without
the amazing team it wouldn’t have been
possible to win again.I would like to say a
huge thank you to Mickael Montezin for building
another remarkable race winning ATV, my team
mates Romain and Joe, all members of Team Audemar,
Francino Fratton, Katia, all my great sponsors
and most of all my parents and girlfriend who
joined me this weekend and made it really special.”
