Todd Kellett reigns once again in Le Touquet

DThe 50th Enduropale du Touquet is in the books. It was the Brit Todd Kellett who could celebrate victory and he did so for the third time in a row. His teammate Milko Potisek came second ahead of Lars Van Berkel.

The three-hour race was, as always, full of pitfalls. The head start was for our compatriot Daymond Martens. When he turned back towards Le Touquet in Stella Plage, he quickly had Todd Kellett next to him. Genot had a mediocre start and was already 12th after a few minutes, just ahead of his teammates Lars Van Berkel and Jeremy Van Horebeek.

Todd Kellett really pulled out all the stops in those first two laps to build up a safe lead. He remained flawless, had very tight pit stops and stayed focused. During the last lap he had the presence of mind to quickly pit to avoid having to drive an extra lap.

Kellett won a flawless Enduropale. Behind him, Yamaha teammate Milko Potisek finished at 2'30”. Then Lars van Berkel crossed the finish line. He had a tough fight with his SR Motoblouz teammate Jeremy Van Horebeek in the penultimate lap.

The two fighters gave it their all but the battle ended in a crash about 20 minutes before the end of the race. It looked like Van Berkel couldn't avoid our compatriot because of a defective rear brake. The Dutchman was quickly back on the bike while Van Horebeek needed a few minutes to get back on his Honda.

The drama for the SR Motoblouz team became even bigger because Cyril Genot rode in third place for almost the entire race but disappeared to the back of the pack during the penultimate lap. What issues the Belgian had to deal with is unknown at the time of going to press. Kellet wins the Enduropale ahead of Milko Potisek, Lars van Berkel, Daymond Martens and Matheo Mio. Jeremy Knuiman finished tenth while Junior Bal rode a great race and was always in the top twenty.

Amadine Verstappen (Yamaha) rode in the women's classification and was able to win the race and finished 97th overall. This Enduropale was also the first race for the newly established Sand Race World Championship. Kellett will of course be the first leader.

Photos: Alexandre Giel

You can consult the full results through this link.

Result Moto