2011
Maxxis 25th Annual Pont de Vaux 12 Hour
ATV Race Pont de Vaux, France
August 20-22, 2011
By: Bill Lanphier |
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2011 25th Maxxis Pont
de Vaux 12 Hour ATV Endurance Race
Small Village of Pont de Vaux Welcomes
Almost 200 ATV Race Teams
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| 12
Hour Pont de Vaux Links |
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Pont
de Vaux, France (8/20/2011)
– There's nothing like it anywhere. No other
race in the history of ATVing has drawn so many
of the world's top racers, and that includes plenty
from right here in the US. No less than a dozen
national Pro ATV champions have flown across the
Atlantic to do battle at the annual 12 Hours of
Pont de Vaux in France: cross-country's Chuck DeLullo,
Bob Sloan, and Barry Hawk, MX/TT's Gary Denton,
Mark Ehrhardt, Shane Hitt, Travis Spader, John Natalie,
and Tim Farr, plus stadium champs Charlie Shepherd,
Doug Eichner, and Dana Creech.
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| Joel
Hetrick & Travis Moore, normally on
Hondas in the US, are aboard a Can-Am at
PDV, which has been meticulously prepped
in Germany by Quad Briel. German Briel team
rider Max Freund will join Joel and Travis
at PDV |
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| Last
year's PDV winner, Romain Couprie, is aboard
this immaculate Yamaha France YFZ. Many
consider Romain to be the fastest ATV Racer
outside the US, and the racing between his
team & the two American Pros should
be fierce. Joining Romain will be Brit Paul
Holmes & Joe Maessen from the Netherlands. |
There was easily a thousand spectators
that jammed the streets of the small village
of Point de Vaux narrow main drag to possibly
catch a quick glimpse of their favorite
ATV race team. Each Year the Pont de Vaux
draws in ATV race teams around the world
including the many Pro Racers from the United
States |
PDV is truly a who's who in ATVing. Despite tough
economic times and with other racing conflicts,
the 25th annual running of the big event brings
out the best, and this year the US is represented
by two Pro MX rookies who are nothing less than
astounding. Joel Hetrick, just 18 years old, won
the final MX round for 2011 by taking the win
in both Pro motos, while Travis Moore made the
top five in at least one round. The action in
the three-day event gets rolling on Friday with
a tough tech inspection at the track, followed
by a presentation of the quads nearby in the small
village of Pont de Vaux. Look for updates here
as racing action gets underway on Saturday and
Sunday.
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| Each
of the 100 pro teams, plus the 80 amateur
teams are presented individually in the
village on Friday night. At the same time,
quad & motorcycle freestyle riders tear
it up on the main street of the village |
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