2010 Maxxis 24th
Annual
Pont de Vaux 12 Hour ATV Race
Pont de Vaux, France
August 20-22, 2010
By:
David Barnes
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2010 24th Maxxis Pont
de Vaux 12 Hour ATV Endurance Race Report
Yamaha's
Romain Couprie Takes Second Ever Pont
de Vaux Win!
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Hour Pont de Vaux Links |
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Pont
de Vaux, France (8/25/2010)
– Amazing weather, tons of spectators and
excitement until the final second controlled the
the 24th edition of the 12h of Pont de Vaux 2010.
A flawless bike, great riders and an amazing team
are just a few ingredients needed to win Pont de
Vaux. This year, Romain Couprie (France) took his
second victory in Pont de Vaux with his team mates
Paul Holmes (Great Britain) and Joe Maessen (Netherlands).
Second place came to the French-American Motoworks
Can-Am Team of Warnia, Frederick and Zimmerman.
Third place was for the French Yamaha of Team Drag’on
with Ternynck, Jay and Cheurlin.
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2010 Track layout of the Pont de Vaux in
France - a track to test every inch of an
ATV racer's body with its long straights
and tight, hair-pin turns with large jumps
in the muddle sections |
The 24th edition of the MAXXIS 12h of Pont de
Vaux started with the traditional presentation
in the city of Pont de Vaux. The riders were called
to the main podium and introduced to the massive
audience. A mix of new teams and old teams presented
themselves.
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Pont de Vaux is one of the biggest ATV races
of the year as it attracts over 100 teams
of racers from around the world with several
teams coming over from the USA |
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#15 Josh Upperman was riding for
the KTM Team with Bryan Cook & Shane
Hitt ,and #10 Jeremie Warnia came back home
to France to race with Josh Frederick &
Dillon Zimmerman |
This year, the headliners were the French Yahama
Factory team with Romain Couprie, Paul Holmes
and Joe Maessen. The American KTM team which was
lead by AMA rider Josh Upperman . He was accompanied
by GNCC riders Bryan Cook and Shane Hitt. The
Motoworks Can Am team of Jeremie “Frenchy”
Warnia, Josh Frederick and Dillon Zimmerman also
crossed the Atlantic to race in PDV. And of course,
the winning team of last year. Team Race Matthieu
Bonnard, Gilloin Yoann and Jean Michel Abfalter.
In the practice round, the JMK Honda Team took
quickly the pole. David Wray put down a fast lap
and stayed in front of Team Cozzi of Nicola Montalbini.
At the end of the one and a half hour during qualifying
session, it were the two American teams that claimed
first and second place. The American KTM team
took the lead at the end. In the final minutes
of the qualifying, they set a lap of 2:53.601.
In the hot sun, the riders prepared themselves
for the first heat. Lining up according to the
results of the qualifying session, the teams counted
anxiously down to the start of the first heat.
It was the Suzuki of Team Race that took the pole.
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| As
per tradition, the ATV racers start in a
standing, dead engine position where they
must sprint to their ATV in a LeMans Style
Start! |
Team
Race's Yoann Ciclet grabbed the early holeshot
& lead the massive field out on the
dusty, hard pack circuit of the Pont de
Vaux 2010! |
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