HOLMES TAKES VICTORY AT PONT DE VAUX


August 30th, 2018.


British Champion Paul Holmes took a narrow victory at the Pont de Vaux 12 hour in France on Sunday to repeat his 2011-12 wins at Europe’s most prestigious quad race.


The Yorkshireman teamed up with French stars Jeremie Warnia and Sylvain Petit in the Yamaha-mounted By Rapport team, which is based just a mile from the track, to win by just 38 seconds over the four legs.

The trio completed 179 laps in total, with the only team to end on the same lap being the Yamaha trio of Antoine Cheurlin (France), Andrea Cesari (Italy) and Randy Naveaux (Belgium), who had led overall going into the start of the final race on Sunday.

Holmes said: “During the five-hour race on Saturday night I noticed the back end was really low as I pulled out of the pits and I had to come back in. The shock height adjuster had come loose and wound itself up the body.

“That meant we were 2m 39s behind them going into the last race, but as soon as it started they made an unscheduled stop to fix something. That put us back in the lead, but we had to still stop for fuel and they didn’t. That put them back in the lead, leaving Jeremie to claw them back in the closing laps.”

However, it was agony for the British-based SJS Yamaha team of Sheldon Seal and Northern Irish pair, David Cowan and Michael McAneney, who finished in fourth place for the fourth year running. The trio ended three laps down on the winners and one down on the all-Dutch team of Mike van Grinsven, Marc de Vries and Joe Maessen on their Honda-based CRQF.

A solid string of results (5-7-5-6) does not tell the full story of their eventful meeting, which started to unravel in the Saturday night race when McAneney collided with a slower backmarker in the dark and hit a bale, breaking his collarbone.

“But credit to him, he got the bike back on four wheels and managed to push it back to the pits, only losing us a small amount of time,” said Seal, who himself was struggling following cruciate knee ligament surgery a month prior to the event.

A bigger problem was an after-market swing arm which began to break up and had to be welded up, meaning in the final race the team had to nurse their Yamaha home to ensure a finish.

A second SJS team entry, featuring James Bevan/Alex Bethell/Luke Davies was not so lucky, when the same swing arm failure forced them to lose a chain in the dying moments of the last race, meaning they did not finish. They were challenging for a top ten place at the time.

The only other British finishers in the top ten were Northern Ireland’s Emma McQuaid and Terence Mackin in seventh – making them the highest finishing two-rider team. The duo had finished the opening race down in 24th, but ground out super consistent 8-7-8 from the remaining heats.

After the opening two races, two other teams with strong British interest were in the hunt for a podium place. The American-based outfit, Team 4 Liberty, featuring Beau Baron, Brycen Neal and British, former PDV winner Paul Winrow – a late replacement for injured GNCC star Jarrod McLure, were sitting in third on their Honda. While the ZIP-KIK Yamaha of Harry Walker/Dean Dillon/Davino Bruneel was in fourth spot.

However, both teams suffered two broken stub axles during the five-hour night race that was to drop them well down the overall order.

A change in format this year saw a switch from three races to four, and a British rider took victory in three of them! Proceedings started with a two-hour day/night race on Friday evening, which was won by Holmes/Warnia/Petit by just over a minute from Cheurlin/Cesari/Naveaux. However, it effectively ended the overall hopes of the popular Rocketman team of Mark McLernon/Carl Bunce/George Callaway, after technical problems meant they finished 52nd, four laps down on the leaders.

A three-hour race on Saturday lunchtime proved the tightest of the weekend, with the Winrow/Baron/Neal team winning by eight seconds from Holmes/Warnia/Petit, with Cheurlin/Cesari/Naveaux nine seconds behind them.

Victory in the showpiece five hour night race went to Cheurlin/Cesari/Naveaux, but the Rocketman team showed what might have been with a strong second place ahead of Holmes/Warnia/Petit.

In Sunday’s two-hour finale, victory, by 15 seconds, went to the ZIP-KIK team of Harry Walker/Dean Dillon/Davino Bruneel, after Walker rode a flag to flag solo stint, with Holmes/Warnia/Petit second and Cheurlin/Cesari/Naveaux third.

In the four-hour, two-leg Kenny Cup support event, Jack Norris was the leading Brit in seventh place, out of 90 starters. He rode the event “Ironman” (a single rider), as did Liam Garbett, who finished seventh overall. It was a busy weekend for Garbett, who also rode to fifth spot in the one-hour solo race on Sunday morning.

A three-leg youth event saw Alfie Walker the highest placed British rider in fourth overall. Walker had won the opening leg, but a crash in the second moto left him battered and below his best. Other Brits in the top ten were Jack Young (7th), Robbie Wood (9th) and Josh Talent (10th).




RESULTS:
Overall:

1. Paul Holmes (GB)/Jeremie Warnia (France)/Sylvain Petit (France) Yamaha, 179 laps.
2. Antoine Cheurlin (France)/Andrea Cesari (Italy)/Randy Naveaux (Belgium) Yamaha, 179 laps.
3. Joe Maessen (Holland)/Mike van Grinsven (Holland)/Marc de Vries (Holland), CRQF, 177 laps.
4. Sheldon Seal (GB)/David Cowan (GB)/David Cowan (GB) Yamaha, 176 laps.
5. Stephane Pichat (France)/Romain Bouillet (France)/Florian Pitre (France) Yamaha , 176 laps.
6. Manfred Zinecker (Germany)/Benoit Beroudiaux (France)/Maxime Ribes (France) Yamaha, 173 laps.

British:
7. Emma McQuaid /Terence Mackin, Yamaha, 173 laps
13. Johnny McKnight/Kyle Murphy (Ireland)/Lorne Sinclair, Yamaha, 166 laps.
17. Sam Jeffrey/Jack Naylor/Zak Orchard, Suzuki, 164 laps.
18. Harry Walker/Dean Dillon/Davino Bruneel (Belgium), Yamaha, 164 laps.
20. Geoff Sharp/Jason Wildman/Danny Smith, Honda, 162 laps.
26. Laurence Stopps/Marco Zaffino/Rhydian Owen, Yamaha, 159 laps
32. Darren Jukes/Callum Bates/Kieron Power, Honda, 155 laps
36. Ayrton Knowles/Murray Graham/Stefan Murphy, Yamaha, 151 laps
42. Steve Atkins/Simon David/Bryan Buckhannon (USA), Can-Am, 147 laps
48. Ameelie Miller/Ami Price-Draper/Catrin Davies, Yamaha, , 142 laps
50. Amy Keitch/Chloe Keitch/Grace Keitch, Suzuki, 140 laps
51. Gary Atkinson/Kevin Meenagh/Alexander Thompson, Suzuki, 139 laps

British DNF
Alex Bethell/James Bevan/Luke Davies, Yamaha, 166 laps
Carl Bunce/Mark McLernon/George Callaway, Yamaha, 162 laps
Cathal McGilligan/Connor Canning/Sean Goss, Yamaha, 162 laps
Paul Winrow/Brycen Neal (USA)/Beau Baron (USA), Honda, 148 laps
Justin Reid/Dafydd Davies/Leon Rogers, Yamaha, 130 laps
Connor Taylor/Kieran Taylor/Matthew Kirk, Yamaha, 71 laps
Mark Smith/Darren McPherson/Clive Cooper, Honda, 21 laps


Pictured top: Paul Holmes (2) took the holeshot in the second race. Photo Anthony Brebant.

Pictured bottom: Holmes, Warnia and Petit (centre) celebrate victory at PDV
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