Moto Tour Series Tunisia J3: Rock’n Roll day !
This chaotic stage will see the victory of the day of Jerôme Putin (Triumph 865 Street Triple Central Team), but Jeremy Barnoin takes control of the general classification of the rally on the handlebars of his KTM 990 SMT. Under the sun, it’s a merciless fight! Report…
As expected, the sun and a temperature close to 30 degrees flooded the day: Douz – Tataouine, we are in the fat of southern Tunisia !
- MNC of 22 November 2017 :
- MNC of 5 December 2017 :
Starting at 7 am this morning, starts are given in order of yesterday’s classification. The first lap times of the rally will be slightly revised during the day, some inconsistencies having been noted following a few small errors in the hours of top starts at the stages. Indeed, setting starts every 30 seconds against the stopwatch without cells is not an easy task and requires a rather delicate start-up….
But everything is now back to normal: yesterday it was finally Jeremy Barnoin (KTM 990 SMT) who won the stage (instead of Yannis Peyron on his KTM 1190 Adventure, finally third behind the first Tunisian rider, who was then Tarek Azabou on BMW S1000 RR.
After a magnificent first link of around 100 kilometers, here we are on the Bani Isa special (around 5 km) for our first passage. This very technical special must be done three times this morning with a loop of about fifty kilometers between each passage.
The festivities will be quickly stopped following a cascade fall of three of the first nine riders who left: It is first Jean-Marc Papon (Yamaha MT10) who leaves the road, followed by the Swiss rider Jacques Granjean (Suzuki1000 GSXS ), surprised when arriving at the scene of the first crash and who puts on a phenomenal one by jumping on the brakes … He will be followed by Luc Gentit’s Yamaha MT-10 which reacts in the same way.
Result: three pilots on the mat, the starts are stopped. Putting the stage back in place once the injured have been evacuated (there will only be one, on the 22nd, who comes out with a fractured scapula.
Starting before these crashes, it was the rider of the KTM 990 SMT n ° 8, Jeremy Barnoin, who won the pompom just 3 tenths from the second time obtained by Benoît Nimis (Yamaha MT-10), fourth overall yesterday.
The delay accumulated during the departures of this first passage will force the three passages planned on this special to be reduced to just two..
At this second fastest time of the day, it was again Jeremy Barnoin (KTM 990 SMT) who took the best time, once again a few tenths ahead of Benoît Nimis.
A short connection of around thirty kilometers then takes us to "CH midi" for a meal at the picturesque restaurant "Sidi Driss" in Matmata.
In the afternoon there will be two runs in Techine’s special, shorter than this morning’s but cleaner and faster. During the first passage at Techine we find Jeremy Barnoin in better time.
But the pilot of the Club Moto Police Nationale (CMPN), Benoît Nimis, makes a mistake following a curve in which he comes out too wide and bites the gravel on the side … The MT-10 is a little wrinkled and Benoît gets away with only a few bruises, but he has to give up the stage. He was then in second place in the provisional, too bad…
The second fastest time will be for Christophe Overney (Husaberg 450 FE), who finishes the stage in first place in the 750 category ahead of Sonia Barbot’s BMW F 700 GS.
On the second lap of this special, Jerôme Putin sets the best time on the handlebars of the Triumph 865 Street Triple Central Team, which is none other than the machine that Julien Toniutti rode during the last Moto Tour..
As an anecdote, Jerôme Putin loses the fixing nut of the bike’s gearbox output pinion which he will however manage to lead until the end of the stage. Thierry Boyer, Central Team boss, also in the race on a Triumph 675 Daytona, will help his rider by removing the nut in question on his machine.
Thierry will however be able to resume the adventure tomorrow, thanks to Jacques Granjean who will allow him to puncture the famous nut on his damaged Suzuki 1000 GSXS… Compatibility of spare parts between Triumph and Suzuki? Some manufacturers must indeed supply themselves at the same place for the box shafts !
The beauty of the Tunisian south and the desire to do a good bit of a motorcycle pincers, however, Benoît Nimis, a bit annoyed by his fall: he will patch up his motorcycle once he has returned to the Sangho hotel in Tataouine, arrival of the stage of the day, but hesitates to leave tomorrow for fun … To be continued tomorrow during the fourth stage of the Moto Tour Series Tunisia.
Leaving again this morning after having repaired its broken crankcase during the passage on a big compression, the crew of Pauline and Damien Lepage (side Yamaha 1000 YZF) won the stage of the day in category 3 – 4 wheels.
The gang of three Quadro 350s engaged follows them, led by Bruno Vezutti. This funny machine is fun to watch and is very effective in terms of handling. However, he lacks a few dozen horses to be able to play higher in the ranking..
Today’s stage was the scene of many falls, especially in connection. There may well be some absent at the start of tomorrow among the good hundred competitors who left Tunis last Thursday (93 competitors are classified tonight).
Tonight, the stopover is at the Sangho hotel in Tataouine where we will stay until Monday. Sam Thomas, president of Option Sports Events, has a smile: the Tunisian welcome is still appreciable and the competitors are having a great adventure.
Tomorrow morning it will start again at 7 am for this time a little more than 410 kilometers, a Tataouine – Tataouine loop with 5 specials on the program (two passages at Oued El Khil, one passage at Ksar Hadada and two passages at Chenini).
Jeremy Barnoin (KTM 990 SMT), leader of the provisional general classification, will open the ball for this fourth day. Stay connected !
Marcus HIMSELF
Related articles
-
Tunisia – Moto Tour Series Tunisia J4: Twist again! –
Moto Tour Series Tunisia J4: Twist again ! Jeremy Barnoin (KTM 990 SMT) wins once again by winning the three specials completed (out of the five…
-
Tunisia – Moto Tour Series Tunisia D5: Return on the last stage –
Moto Tour Series Tunisia J5: Back on the last stage As we could imagine with his lead of nearly 20 seconds ahead of his pursuer at the start this…
-
Tunisia – Moto Tour Series Tunisia D2: start on the hats of wheels! –
Moto Tour Series Tunisia D2: start on the hats of wheels ! After the official start on Avenue Bourguiba in Tunis, with a few drops of rain but to the…
-
Road rallies – Tunisia Rally Tour 2012 (J5): Matmata – Tataouine –
Tunisia Rally Tour 2012 (D5): Matmata – Tataouine Today is the south of the south! A desert stage under a blazing sun which did not prevent the…
-
Tunisia welcomes first Tunisian Moto Tour as symbol of peace The Tunisian Ministry of Tourism hosted Thursday in Tunis the launch conference of the first…
-
Tunisia – The route of the Moto Tour Series Tunisia 2018 –
The Moto Tour Series Tunisia 2018 route The Moto Tour Tunisia , the first event of the Moto Tour Series before the new Moto Tour France, will make a…
-
Tunisia – Jeremy Barnoin wins the first Moto Tour Series Tunisia –
Jeremy Barnoin wins the first Moto Tour Series Tunisia Jeremy Barnoin (KTM 990 SMT) just won the first Moto Tour Series Tunisia yesterday in Hammamet,…
-
Road rallies – Dark Dog Moto Tour, Tunisia Option –
Dark Dog Moto Tour, Tunisia Option This year, for the first time at the Paris Motorcycle Show, among the new motorbikes, scooters and equipment, is the…
-
France – Moto Tour Series Corse, D1: Verdoni dominates the debates! –
BMW S 1000 RR in the driving report Heavily revised Bayern Express The BMW S 1000 RR has withstood Japan’s resistance so far. Yet. Because Yamaha’s new…
-
Road rallies – Tunisia Rally Tour 2012 (D2): the Knight like a prince! –
Tunisia Rally Tour 2012 (D2): the Knight like a prince ! First real step today since the ball of the race against the clock is open. Serge Nuques won…