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MONDIAL ROUND 3
Eichner for the 6th time !
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With this 2004 event, the American Doug Eichner with his Scottish teammate John Mitchell, become the recordman of the victories in Pont de Vaux, for the 6th times he is the winner of the 12 Hours, after his previous success in 1993, 1995, 1996, 2000 and 2001.
The suspens is at the higher level at 1.00 pm at the start of the 3rd and last round of the Mondial du Quad. At last the sun is shining and we are waiting for dust after the mud during the next 4 hours.
Doug Eichner/John Mitchell know that their 5 laps ahead Tavis/Cain/Chad Lohr and Gregory Lassaigne/Harold Goodman/Mike Novak are helpful but tiny. Coming from nowhere the Briel-Walsh KTM n°97 of Walsh/Lawson/Seifner take the lead during the first laps but the n°7 Balwdin, n°1 Lassaigne, n°11 Couprie are very close, not far ahead from the n°2 Eichner who seems to manage his race. But after 20 minutes, the pace car come into the track because of an non serious accident but which need several marshalls to clear the track.
After 2 laps of neutralization, the race starts again and the “chassé croisé” between the riders doesn’t stop. Unfortunately Pion, 7th at that time, is obliged to abandon whereas we assist to a spectacular come back of the 450 Honda CRM n°22 riden by “Piwi” Paul Winrow, at the 21st place after 20 minutes racing. The same for the n°1 who, after 1 hour, is ahead with one lap. But while Harold Goodman is riding, the Banshee Yamaha Motor France, definitely stop. So Greg Lassaigne won’t win his 3rd Mondial in 3 years.
After several laps, we note the nice work of the Suzuki LTZ n°40 Gaillard/Ternynck who finish this round at a nice 5th place, also of the n°21 Pinchon/Nowaczyk/Vassel or even of the Polaris n°117 of the Bof’s brothers and Jimmy Fèvre, the local guy who unfortunately will have to abandon just 20 minutes before the end. At the end of this round, the n°2 finishes at one lap of Walsh/Lawson/Seifner.
Even if this year, a Banshee is victorious, the 4 stroke as the Yamaha YFZ or Honda CRM are more and more closer of the victory. That is the confirmation that the ATV is in constant evolution.
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Stéphane Peterhansel :
Hard for the body !
The genious mechanics sports rider (bike in enduro and rallyes raids, as well as race car on ice and rallyes raids), so often victorious of the Paris Dakar that we don’t count anymore his victories, he says that the 12 Hours of Pont de Vaux are very hard for the body : “The very wet track which dried laps after laps became destroyed with very hard waves on the braking areas, holes that can destroyed the less resistant riders. For us who are in the top 20, the problem is there and if we had a Banshee instead of our YFZ I don’t think that we could have done better.” That’s right that this year, the top teams were particularly well competitive not for the machines but also with the pilots.
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Photos : Christophe Garcia
Photos : Alain Le Bian
Photo : Christophe Garcia
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MONDIAL ROUND 2
Magical night !
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Very expected, the night round is the queen of the Mondial du Quad. The queen since the 5 uninterrupted lasting hours on a very difficult track are very hard for the machines as well as for the riders. Queen for the magical night lightened by the lights of the quads and the stands.
At the beginning of the night, the start given at 8.00 pm, Cain/Lohr’s Yamaha YFZ realize the holeshot. No for a long time, since from the timing post, Couprie/De Palma became the leaders before Baldwin/Tordoff/Maessen.
But Eichner/Mitchell want to show that it is not the end of the Banshee and rapidly took the leader position. And we assist to a large “chassé croisé” rythmed by refuelling and small troubles. The riders are so tired that their concentration is getting harder and the muscles are beginning to hurt them. All the pilots agree to say that the track is as bad after 5 hours as the end of the previous years. However the breaks are not so numerous and the best teams are repairing the small troubles very quickly.
The ATV World/Duncan racing team changed the whole exhaust of the YFZ n°12 in 1 minute ! It’s worth noting that the chassis are very long lasting, it’s not the same for the batteries which are a problem for many machines.
In this round we can see at the top of the ranking teams which are making very nice come back as the n°119 Christophe Kuhnl/Franck Allart/Eric Aubijoux, on a Bombardier, or Mike Walsh/Jeremy Lawson/Denny Seifner of Quad Briel team But the big winners are the team n° 2 on a very fast Banshee. We must explain that Doug Eichner and John Mitchell are the first comers in Pont de Vaux. They win this heat with 5 laps ahead Lassaigne (N°1) and 6 on the n°32, 3, 97 and 111.
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Photos : Christophe Garcia
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MONDIAL ROUND 1
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It is 3.00 pm when Michel Marielle gave the start of the 18th Mondial du Quad of Pont de Vaux with the drop of the tricolor flag.
Because of the bottleneck necessary for the timing, the quads have to pass one by one in front of the timing post, the pilots know that they have to realize the best start in order to avoid to be stopped by the bottleneck. Gregory Lassaigne is among them and doesn’t let anyone else make the Holeshot before the n°3 Cain/Lohr (USA), n°7 Baldwin/Tordoff/Maessen (GB, GB,NL), n°111 Peterhansel/Warnia/Viardot (F), n°13 Reid/Grandlund/Stephensen (Irl, USA) and n°97 Walsh/Lawson/Seiffner (USA, USA, D).
The race started like a Grand Prix on an ideal track. The very wet track of the morning is now dried but remains relatively soft. From the end of the 2nd lap, the last pilots stopped in the bottleneck during the 1st round are passed on by the leaders, and we can see some spectacular come back such as the n°2 Eichner/Mitchell (USA, Scott), n°18 Pinchon/Parent/Vassel (F), n°22 Winrow/Waggott/Macbeth (GB) or n°117 Bof/Bof/Fevre (F).
At the end of the 1st hour, the 3 leaders are n°3, 2 and 22 at one lap before a serie of 10 challengers led by Peterhansel, Lassaigne, Walsh, Pinchon and Bof. In the general ranking, we note the fall of Van der Laan, Pion, Mazarico or Etard. But even if we know that 4 or 5 laps of delay after 60 minutes racing mean there is no more hope to be on the podium, many things can occur during 12 hours and the hopes to come back are far from being lost. Eichner/Mitchell take the first place just before the 2nd hour before Winrow/Waggott/Macbeth on their official Honda. The positions are so close that during the refuelling they don’t stop changing.
At 6.00 pm, Eichner/Mitchell are the first to cross the finish line, followed by Lassaigne delayed by mechanic trouble, Couprie and Bof were just after at one lap. Immediately all the machines are parked in the closed area and all mechanics repairing are forbidden until the start of the night round.
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Pascal de Palma and Romain : an unforgettable comeback
After a bad start among the troops, the team n°11 De Palma/Couprie reached a nice 4th place. Pascal stays cool : “that’s right that with the 450 YFZ, thanks to the 4 stroke which has a good engine brake, we can brake later. But the banshee are faster on the straight line. Furthermore with the soft track, we have to refuel every 80 minutes instead of the 115 minutes planned.” If they continue like this they could be among the victorious teams.
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Photos : Alain Le Bian
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Photo : Christophe Garcia
MONDIAL PRACTICES
Peter : the gun power
This year with a high participation not only with the pilots but also with the machines, the 18 th ATV World took a good start.
The Yamaha 450 YFZ 4 strokes are numerous whereas the number of the Banshee 2 strokes is decreasing. On a very greasy track because of the last rainy days on the meadow of Bresse, it seems that the very well fitted 2 strokes don’t have the advantage against the 4stroke with much more powerful engines. The success is all the more important for the 2002 and 2003 winner, Gregory Lassaigne just behind Stéphane Peterhansel who realizes a 3’03’’ on this 3750 m long track . With his 450 YZF entered by Yamaha Motor France - as well as Lassaigne/Goodman/Novak’s Banshee.
Nearly about 20 countries will be present, moreover the regular nations, pilots coming from Europa, United States, South Africa, Poland, Czech republic, Canada, and even a young pilot from Moroco. Except Tavis Cain with his teammate Chad Lohr who are not used to Pont de Vaux but finished at the 3rd rank of the practices. We find also old regular pilots who have animated the previous events of this mythical race : Pion/Blondeau/Clemente (4th), Baldwin/Tordoff/Maessen or even Eichner, Waggott, reid, Van der laan, Meertens, Rochereau... The favourite pilots are among the fastest ones for a race .
We are impatient to look the start of the 1st round of the 3 heats which will be on Saturday 21 of August at 3.00 pm for 3 hours lasting race. The 2nd round will start at 8.00 pm afor 5 hours, the last one will be on Sunday from 1.00 pm to 5.00 pm.
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QUAD CONTEST RACE
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The weather was very good for the Quad Contest which started at 9.300 for a 3 hours race.
Indeed the sky was not very cloudy and the cool temperature that let the engines breathe, permit the riders “to do like the top pilots of the Mondial”. Please not that this race includes the VIP/media/enterprises challenge.
The conditions have changed since the practices as the sweepy track of the day before turned into a damaged track with holes.
Less fast than on Saturday the team Fortin/Chabert n°12, winner of the pole position, stays behind while Borne/Petit n°43 is rather fast followed by a group made by Landa/Gracian°38, Connart/Lignon n°13, Barattini n°44 and Brebant/Leroy n°10. After 45 minutes these 4 teams, are within 5 seconds. A great fight as we like them.
But, the n°43 has to abandon and the other competitors pass on. The n°39 Lemaire/Grattepanche goes faster and faster and become the leader at one hour from the end. While Mauvignant/Laurent n°15 takes the 4th place.
The change of pilots brings some surprises as the second pilot is often faster than his teammate. At the final, the n°39 finishes far ahead while the n°15 loses the 4th place because of Dufloux/Jouet n°5.
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Photos : Christophe Garcia
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QUAD CONTEST PRACTICES
This year, the Quad Contest sponsored by X-Roads is going back to the promotional formula which was its first goal. Indeed, since the last 2 years, machines are more and more competitive, and their power was too close from the top machines of the Mondial.
This year the regulations plan to limit the cylinder up to 400cc for the 4 strokes and 250 cc for the 2 strokes. The result is not surprising since the best times of the Quad Contest are 30 seconds higher than those of the Mondial.
At 9.00 am, the practices started for half an hour on a muddy track. Guillaume Fortin was the fastest with 3’34’’, followed by Sebastien Borne within the same second. The weather will getting dry for the week end, the track will be easier for the race which will start on Sunday at 9.30 for 2 hours.
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At 16, Sebastien Borne enters the Franche Comté cup. After having started at 10 on a Blaster, he realized a really great show in the streets of Pont deVaux with some free style, the spectactors enjoyed them very much. However he only came here “to see” “ It’s my father in law, Kawasaki dealer, who fits my KFX. I was very pleased to realize the 2nd time and I hope to do the best tomorrow.
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