All-terrain – First success for Adrien Van Beveren (Yamaha) at Le Touquet –

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First success for Adrien Van Beveren (Yamaha) at Le Touquet

All-terrain - First success for Adrien Van Beveren (Yamaha) at Le Touquet -

Adrien Van Beveren claimed his first victory at the Enduropale du Touquet 2014, after three thrilling hours of racing marked by bad weather (wind, hail and rain). At only 23 years old, the Yamaha rider hangs his name on the prize list of the most important motorcycle race on sand, ahead of Meo’s KTM and Ramon’s Suzuki..

Adrien Van Beveren offered his first victory at the, after three thrilling hours of racing marked by bad weather (wind, hail and rain). At only 23 years old, the Yamaha rider hangs his name on the prize list of the most important motorcycle race on sand, ahead of Meo’s KTM and Ramon’s Suzuki..

Troubled weather

After la and les, the competitors in Le Touquet thought they had seen everything in terms of the weather … They were wrong! The rain, wind, cold and even hail gave them no respite during the motorcycle race, making the 14 km course as trying as it is difficult to gauge..

Adrien Van Beveren’s trajectory

Adrien Van Beveren was born on January 4, 1991 in Racquinghem (62). At six years old, "VBA" debuts on a Kawasaki KX60 and catches the "virus"! He participated in his first cross-country league race in 1998 then in 2007 turned to the French championship, after several titles in regional championships, and signed two promising podiums (Bitche and La Fare).

The following year, he tasted sand races in the E1 category and won the title of champion of France. At the same time, he finished eighth in the world championship in the category. Logically, he lined up for the Enduro du Touquet the following season () and finished sixth. Second in on the Opal Coast, he finished fourth in and in, then third in .

In the meantime, Adrien Van Beveren is increasing his success in sand races (winning the Ronde des Sables in 2011) and becoming a real specialist in the discipline. It is as leader of the French championship that he presented himself at Le Touquet this year, a status brilliantly defended by the northerner thanks to this first victory on "his" lands !

Author of the holeshot, Adrien Van Beveren used his Nordic origins and his talent to lead almost all of the event with the formidable Antoine Meo on his heels. The Yamaha rider wins for his sixth participation with 20 seconds in advance, succeeding one of his "teammates" at Yam ‘: .

A victory all in all quite logical for "VBA", which presented itself in Le Touquet with the status of favorite because of its remarkable rise in power in recent seasons (see box above). The fact remains that between practice and (all) terrain, the contingencies are numerous: if the victory is deserved, it is still necessary to seek it without making a mistake..

"It is not the most beautiful Touquet that I have done, but it is the most beautiful day of my life", he confesses on arrival to our colleagues from France 3. "It is fabulous , I find it hard to realize, it’s so much work ", explains, moved, the new title holder.

Fair play, Adrien Van Beveren paid tribute to the combativeness of his main rival during the race, Antoine Meo: "he forced me to adopt a fairly high pace even though I was not at the top at the start of the race" , explains the winner.

The supply of too many for Meo

Very comfortable in the more technical parts, Antoine Meo lost the race in the last laps, mainly due to a risky refueling strategy. Taking the bet to race with a tank smaller than his competitors, the KTM official logically had to refuel … and this pit stop potentially cost him the victory.

Some fears in overtaking the flow of "retarded" pilots – including one that will earn him the breakage of a radiator gill – also made him waste time. In the end, Antoine Meo, however, feels satisfied with his race, especially since he found himself on the ground, stuck under the bike, trying everything on the last lap. !

Third, complete this "multi-brand" podium with Suzuki, despite several small crashes of no importance on the mechanical and physical level but too time-consuming to hope for the win.

First woman ranked and only female rider to appear in the "Top 100", Livia Lancelot (Kawasaki) finished 39th ahead of Olivier Pain (Yamaha), just back from !

"The weather conditions were horrible and we caught cold while waiting at the parc ferme, then on the start line!", Explains Livia: "I was soaked before the start, I was shaking and I never managed to warm up. during the first hour, my fingers were frozen and I had difficulty in gearing, terrible conditions! The team made me refuel a little earlier than expected, they tried to cheer me up and that to me did good. I started again beyond 60th place, but with the return of the sun I managed to warm up a bit and I made my way. I had a good pace, I was starting to please myself and in the last hour I really had excellent feelings. I’m a little disappointed because if I hadn’t had this problem during the first hour, I think I would have done better. Now I reach my goal and I finish the race well physically ".

Top 20 of the Enduropale du Touquet 2014 (scratch)

  1. (3:01:24) ADRIEN VAN BEVEREN – Yamaha
  2. (3:01:50) ANTOINE MEO – KTM
  3. (3:05:21) STEVE RAMON – Suzuki
  4. (3:06:55) ARNAUD DEGOUSEE- Yamaha
  5. (3:08:34) JEAN-CLAUDE MOUSSE – Yamaha
  6. (3:09:13) MARC DE REUVER – Honda
  7. (3:09:47) MILKO POTISEK – Yamaha
  8. (3:05:55 YVES DEUDON – Kawasaki
  9. (3:07:09) JULIEN TOURNESSI – KTM
  10. (3:07:29) TOM LAHOUSSE – Yamaha
  11. (3:09:16) FLORENT BLANCHARD – Suzuki
  12. (3:09:53) ALEXANDRE MOREL – Yamaha
  13. (3:10:29) NICOLAS LETEVE – Suzuki
  14. (3:12:30) MARSHALL MEPLON – Suzuki
  15. (3:14:13) FRANCK MENAGE-BLED – Yamaha
  16. (3:15:27) MATHIEU BONNARD – Honda
  17. (3:15:58) JULIEN BONENFANT – Suzuki
  18. (3:01:49) NICOLAS CAILLY – Honda
  19. (3:01:53) SVEN WOUTERS – KTM
  20. (3:02:22) THEOPHANE QUENEHEN – Yamaha

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