The #18 CT Racing/Laeger's team of Harold Goodman, Justin Reid and Josh Fredricks had motor problems during practice and were hurrying to change engines before racetime. Harold won the PDV in 1998, teamed up with Tim Farr and Shane Hitt.
The #1 Duncan/ATV World Banshee is such a proven machine at this race that very little setup is required. The design has been refined over the years and works well. (Some dusting was required before the start of the race.)
This was the rider's meeting on Saturday afternoon. They did a French version and an English version. The first of three racing sessions would be 3-6pm, the second from 8pm-1am, the third on Sunday 1-5pm. All the times are combined towards the overall.
The #3 Moto & Co machine ridden by Pat Brown and Romain Couprie had the fastest qualifying time and would start each session on pole position. Pat Brown had the fastest lap time overall at the 12 Hours of ATV America in Iowa last year.
The start is very tense as 120 quads all take off at the same time. With the conditions as dry as they were, the dust was everywhere. It takes a few laps for the pack to thin out.
The traffic was heavy at the start of each session, and it seemed as though we were always passing others riders in almost every turn. Here Tavis Cain cuts through some slower riders.
The pit crews had to keep a constant watch over their riders. If the lap times started to drop off, another rider would get ready to take over. It is best if each rider runs out a complete tank full of fuel before pitting to minimize the number of pit stops. With the lap times for our team right around 3 minutes, you had to get ready to ride in a hurry if needed.
Ricky, Nathaniel and I started from 22nd on the grid, and worked our way up as high as 4th during the first session. Our Duncan National motor ran strong and would sometimes pull the front wheels up unexpectedly, even with 16-36 gearing! Here we are pitting for fuel and changing riders.
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