Road rallies – Fred Lejeune wins the Belgian Dark Dog Tour in a snap! –

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Fred Lejeune wins the Belgian Dark Dog Tour in the snatch !

Road rallies - Fred Lejeune wins the Belgian Dark Dog Tour in a snap! -

Everything was decided in the final basic time trial: Denis Bouan strengthened his lead by outrunning his pursuers in the specials, but it was finally Fred Lejeune who won this Belgian Dark Dog Tour for 23 small hundredths. ! Balance sheet.

Yesterday was one of the longest stages of this Belgian Dark Dog Tour 2008 with nearly 500 km to cover, three specials and a time base. Luckily, this last stage took place under rather appreciable summer weather after these three winter days. !

Beginning of the festivities: Nandrin special

After a road course that is still “rally”, the competitors go to Nandrin for a short special – too short, according to the general opinion of the pilots: 1800 m is indeed not long! – but very fast.

Denis Bouan wins again under the minute, accompanied by Fred Fiorentino less than 7 tenths behind him (59.05 seconds against 59.73). Follow Gregory Fastre (1’00.46), Fred Lejeune (1’00.97) and Didier Jadoul (1’02.93).

Then it is the noon gathering in Dinant, on the Princess Elisabeth of Belgium esplanade. Holiday atmosphere under a pleasant spring sun: pure tourism! Then the competitors leave for a still picturesque connection before arriving at the second special of the day…

Gedinne special

Due to the lack of inflatable protections in certain places of the special, observed at the last moment by the safety commission, the start of the first motorcycle is delayed by 40 minutes…

It’s still very fast, but a little longer this time with 4650m. And it is again Denis Bouan who wins in 2’11.14 on his Buell 1125R ahead of Gregory Fastre in 2’11.68 and Didier Jadoul in 2’15.07, i.e. two Ducati 1100 Hypermotard in the first three !

Fourth place for Patrick Orban and his Kawasaki 1100 ZRX, six tenths ahead of Fred Fiorentino fifth.

When the death knell sounds … from the bench !

Unpleasant surprises never come on their own: after Friday’s and the unexpected power control on the course (read), it’s back to life today before the third special of the day! And there, too bad for some…

During the benching of Denis Bouan’s Buell 1125R, 9 more horses than at the start control are relieved … Fortunately, Denis remains within the tolerance of 100 hp + 6%. Ditto for a few other competitors, who were well below tolerance on the day of the start control.

But it’s not the same music for the Yamaha R6 n ° 10 of Florent Parret of the CMPN, then 15th in the provisional general: 117 horses! Compared to the 106 pile up at the start, that’s a lot … Especially for the Motorcyclist Club of the National Police … The air of Belgium therefore seems to be doing well with the Yamaha engine, but the penalty is final: disqualification !

Same thing for Patrick Bournisien and his Kawasaki ZX10-R n ° 8: the boss of the Xzeos Team, in 18th place in the provisional, is also disqualified for 20 additional horses !

"Everyone was checked with 10 more horses than at the start, it’s still strange, no ?", asks Florent Parret bitterly, interviewed by Site:"it’s their thing that is badly regulated, that’s for sure! I haven’t touched the bike since we left and they pick me up 11 hp more, don’t overdo it anyway … it’s nonsense !"

Vresse / Semois: Special canceled

It was only when getting into the special, located in a basin of valleys in deep Wallonia, that the marshals noticed that the mobile phones were not working, nor the radio communications! Neither one nor two: we do not take any risk, the organization immediately cancels the special !

Disappointing for the pilots who wanted to try everything in this last special to move up the BDDT ranking … But everything is still possible, because there remains one event, and not the least: the night time base! What to lose everything for the leaders, or to gain everything for the others…

The chrono base does damage

Denis Bouan had every chance of winning this Belgian Dark Dog Tour 2008, but he will be content with second place, 23 hundredths behind Fred Lejeune in the total times of the general classification: thus decided the time base traced in a glade. well leafy, with many changes of direction, on rotten roads and in total darkness !

Of course, the powerful lights of the motorcycles were there to make it possible to see the road, but the Tripys have an uncertain reception under the trees, and it was better to have a nose to find the right direction … Denis Bouan makes a U-turn in full middle of the track after having taken a wrong direction, verdict: 20 seconds too long, i.e. 42nd place in this event !

Fred Lejeune only approached 6 seconds from the ideal time (27th time), but enough to take the first place in the rally by 23 hundredths from Denis Bouan! Fred Fiorentino sets the 26th time 5 seconds from the time required and climbs back to 9th position in the race…

Philippe Pinchedez, 28th fastest (5 seconds), keeps his third place in the scratch after having taken all the risks in the final link of the road course: very tight CH, still in the undergrowth, with multiple crossings on more enduro roads " !

Final classification of the Belgian Dark Dog Tour

In the end, the victory therefore goes to Fred Lejeune on his BMW HP2, with 23 hundredths ahead of Denis Bouan riding a Buell 1125 R. Third place goes to Philippe Pinchedez on Ducati 1100 Hypermotard, at 39.07 seconds. of the leader.

Beautiful country, great race and many adventures in Belgium: strongly Portugal for the rest of the IRC adventure! Stay connected !

Marcus HIMSELF

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