Pichon wins Le Touquet after disqualifying Deudon!
From 5e Le Touquet Enduropale will go down in history as one of the most surprising editions ever. Three brands battled it out at the front for the win. At first it seemed to go to Yves Deudon. But during the technical inspection after the race, the exhaust of Deudon's KX450F did not comply with the regulations. However, the race management was unrelenting and removed Deudon from the results. Mickaël Pichon was therefore declared winner of the Le Touquet Enduropale.
At the stroke of 13:00 PM on the beach of Le Touquet. The gigantic starting gate is lowered and the Enduro Pale 2010 officially starts. A man, in blue gear, quickly breaks away from the rest of the suit. Adrien Van Beveren leads the thousand-strong peloton at high speed to Merlimont, the turning point in the Enduropale. When he actually completes the turning point first, the 19-year-old triumphantly raises his left arm in the air. The Yamaha Motor France rider can collect the €1500 check for the holeshot after the race.
Van Beveren does not enjoy his leadership position for long because Mickaël Pichon appears in his wake. Less than a kilometer further, the two-time 250cc world champion takes command. Behind the leading duo, Yves Deudon (Kawasaki France) moves to third place. At the end of the first round the standings are as follows: 1) Pichon, 2) Van Beveren, 3) Deudon, 4) Deparrois 5) Prévot, 6) Moussé. Bethys is 10e, Nico Godrie is 11e and first lowlander. Pichon then starts to expand his lead, while Deudon and Van Beveren sink to places 4 and 5. Moussé rides on the 2nd after round 2e place and thus precedes Prévot.
When Pichon turns onto the beach for lap 4, his lead over Moussé is only one second. Moussé's YZ450F, riding a home race, is a lot faster on the hard, fast part of the beach. Moussé not only passes Pichon, but he quickly takes a lead of several tens of meters. However, on the way back to Le Touquet, Pichon manages to close the gap and a duel ensues. Almost at the same time, both tenors hit the pits. There, Moussé's Yamaha France crew appears to be slightly faster than Pichon's Honda France Team. After an hour of racing, Moussé leads ahead of Pichon, Deudon, Prévot, Van Beveren and Leclabart.
Just before the passage to the finish, Pichon crashes. After round 5, the top 6 is still unchanged, but Ton Van Grinsven (11e) and Ricky Claus (12e) are now approaching the top 5. At the turning point in Merlimont, leader Moussé then collides with a doubled rider. The Yamaha France rider falls, but fortunately can leave again. Pichon will then briefly regain the lead, but will fall back after his 2nde pit stop.
At the start of the last hour of the race, the situation at the front is as follows: Moussé leads with an 11 sec lead over Deudon and 28 sec ahead of Pichon. Van Grinsven has now been relegated to 12th place, Claus is 13the , Heikki Van Den Berg is 21e, Christof Godrie is 28e. Moussé has to give up his lead again after a pit stop in lap 10. Now it is Pichon who leads for Deudon and Moussé. Pichon now seems set to take his first Endurance victory. However, nothing could be further from the truth. When Pichon comes in for his final pit stop on lap 11, the stress increases under the Honda France pit tent. Pichon's damper is apparently broken and needs to be replaced. The crew completes the job in less than a minute, but Pichon will still lose the match.
Mousssé then seems to have won the game, but the Yamaha rider stops just before crossing the finish line. The veteran tries desperately to adjust his clutch lever, but the damage has already been done: Moussé will not win this edition of the Enduropal.
Yves Deudon, who until then had completed a flawless but unremarkable course, then takes over the lead. The Kawasaki rider enters the final lap as the leader. In the meantime, Ricky Claus is also on the rise. The West Flemish player is hanging at 8 going into the last rounde. Deudon gets short of breath for a moment when he crashes with a doubled rider a few hundred meters before the finish. However, Deudon does not slow down and triumphantly crosses the finish line at 16:08 PM. Pichon comes second, 58 seconds behind Deudon. Adrien Van Beveren is still turning 3e and thus crowns himself champion in the “Championnat des Sables”.
Afterwards, however, the FFM technical committee determined that Deudon's exhaust was too noisy. The Nordiste is given a 15-minute time penalty. The Deudon clan is obviously not happy with this measure and is considering appealing.
Ricky Claus managed to gain another position in the last round and thus becomes 7th (6th after Deudon's disqualification). Ton van Grinsven turned 12e, Heikki Van Den Berg 18e and Christof Godrie 25e.
Photos credit: Michel Hennebert/Photo Impact
Also to read
Competing for the MX AIR TIME 2024 prize pool? Subscribe …
A new edition of MX AIR TIME will be held on Sunday, May 19. Place to be is the Dutch municipality of Beckum. Register now via Motoinside and who knows...Gallery: MXGP Portugal 2024 XXL from NiekFotografie
The riders and mechanics had a hard time in Agueda. This also applies to the photographers because the weather conditions were harsh! Yet our #NiekFotografie made this XXL gallery...Jorge Prado in Simon Laengenfelder over Agueda
The Grand Prix of Portugal will be remembered for a long time and may be one for the history books. The heavy rain that descended on Agueda made this 2024 edition a rush…Danee Gelissen on stage in Italy
During the second match of the Italian Women's Championship, Danee Gelissen was allowed to climb onto the podium. The Limburg rider finished second behind Kiara Fontanesi in both heats in Lovolo. The Ceres71 driver starts…
Your reactions