2004 Maxxis 12 Hours of Pont de Vaux, France

[Andy Lagzdins]

Chad and Tavis were running right up front on their YFZ and seemed to be pacing themselves to finish strong at the end. Here is their night session rider change.

[Andy Lagzdins]

At the end of the night session the top 3 remained the same; with Eichner/Mitchell accumulating a massive 5 lap lead! Mike Walsh's team had moved into 4th overall, and our team was 7th. The last 4 hour session was run from 12-4pm on Sunday under clear skies. We had lost some time in the pits and Cale's palms were blistered badly, so we knew the last session would be a tough one. Cale was doing our starts due to his mx background. He would cut through the pack quickly at the start and was turning super-fast lap times; but his pace played havoc on his hands. The medic tried to wrap them but it was too bad. I started the last session and had moved up into the top ten when our quad ran out fuel at the end of the pit straight. I pushed it back to the pits, refueled, and did back to back 1 1/2 hour stints. When I got off the quad for the last time, I was done! Paul Rowlands (who had a knee injury going into this race and didn't ride with a thumb throttle) pulled out the stops and finished the race with super-consistent lap times to put us back up to 11th in the session and 6th overall.

[Andy Lagzdins]

Doug Eichner and John Mitchell win it! Their Duncan/ATV World Laeger Banshee took them to the overall win. Their lead was 6 laps over Mike Walsh's KTM. Stephene Petehansel dropped back to 7th and Lassaigne's Banshee broke near the end. Tavis and Chad's YFZ stopped in the last session also; a tough break for the talented duo who ran so close to the front the whole race. The other Duncan/ATV World YFZ of Tordoff/Baldwin/Maessen came back to finish 4th after breaking a rear shock during the first session. Paul Winrow's KIK Honda Racing UK 450r narrowly beat us to 5th place at the finish; and both our teams finished on the same lap after 12 hours of racing! This win was Eichner's sixth PDV overall.

[Andy Lagzdins]

Here's the top three teams. From L to R: Team Moto and Co./Yamaha Motor France riders Romain Couprie and Pascal DePalma in 3rd; Duncan/ATV World riders Eichner and Mitchell in 1st; and Mike Walsh's Team Quad Briel in 2nd.

[Andy Lagzdins]

Our Duncan/ATV World TRX450R took our mostly rookie team to 6th overall against some of the world's fastest riders and quads.

[Andy Lagzdins]

These are the top three Women's teams on the podium.

[Andy Lagzdins]

Many thanks to Paul Rowlands for encouraging me to race the PDV and sponsoring the team. Paul is a class act and a dedicated racer. Cale set fast lap times for our team and excelled at the starts; good luck in the GNC's! I can't thank my sponsors enough: ATV World/Duncan/DirtFirst/Elka/Fox/Motorcycle Factory/IMS/Roll. I'm looking to come back next year with some experience and get on the podium. This is how I spent my summer vacation.

[spud400ex]

Originally posted by Andy Lagzdins
Moto and Co./Yamaha Motor France fielded this fleet of immaculate YFZ's.

what kind of tires are those.

[MJNOVA]

Andy,

Great job on the finish. It's nice to see a few other GNCC'ers out trying some different forms of ATV racing. I also look forward to going back next year and suggest others give it a try too....

Mike Novak

[popo]

Great work Andy...... Excellant write up and photo coverage.