After a 12 hour rest for both bike and riders,
the last 4 hour stint started. Under the burning
sun and with a massive crowd 93 Of the initial
115 ATV’s set of. Josh Upperman took
once again the Holeshot. The Factory KTM team
took the lead before team Motoworks and team
Somargi. At the end of the first lap, Team
Drag’on caught up and went into pursuit.
The n°2 Yamaha of Maxxis/Audemar, with
Joe Maessen at wheel, slowly pulled itself
into the top 5. Third place was for the n°
5 Yamaha of TR Racing.
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|
| Drag'on
Yamaha Laeger's Ternynck / Jay / Cheurlin
claimed the session one win & claimed
a 2nd place finish in the final session,
which earned them a Top three overall
finish for a spot on the Podium |
| |
|
#10 Jeremie Warnia was on his way
to win with a 9 second lead before it
was determined that they were going
to be penalized 2 minutes for exceeding
the pit area speed limit, which allowed
Romain Couprie's Team to regain the
lead after they were also penalized
earlier |
Two hours into the race, the Can Am of Warnia/Frederick/Zimmerman
had a minute and half lead on Couprie/Holmes/Maessen
and Ternynck/Jay/Cheurlin. In the back, the
winner of the night race (Vlaeymans/Brems/Vaes)
was correcting their terrible start. Coming
from the last position, the team entered the
top 10 and was slowly making its way to the
top 5. Going into the final hour of the race.
The tension up front was enormous. The n°2
Yamaha rode to fast in the pits and received
a 2 minute stop-and-go time penalty.
The Motoworks team had a 9 second lead in
the general ranking, when they also received
a stop – and - go for riding to fast
in the pits. Coming out of the penalty box,
Warnia tried to correct the arrears in the
final half hour. In second place, Team Drag’on
became certain of its third place in the overall.
When the checkered flag came out to end the
final heat, no one was certain who had won
the race.
|
|
| The
Motoworks/Can-Am team came across the
line with much emotion & excitement
as they too were in the running for
the top spot but nearely missed it by
just over 1 minute - the Frenchman,
Jeremie Warnia was joined on the podium
by American WORCS racers Josh Frederick
(left) & Dillon Zimmerman who helped
to catapult the team up the time scale |
For minutes, both teams waited for the official
announcement. Finally, the overall results
was in. Team Yamha Audemar won the 24th edition
of Pont de Vaux with a 37.299 second lead
on Team Can Am/Motoworks of Warnia/Frederick/Zimmerman.
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|
| Team
Audemar Yamaha riders Paul Holmes, Romain
Couprie, & Joe Maessen celebrate
the victory! This marks Couprie's second
win of the PDV in the last 3 years as
well! |
