Todd Kellett claims epic Enduropale du Touquet win

By Team TMX on 13th Feb 25

News Enduro Motocross

A reported 700,000 mad keen motorsports fans flocked to the sleepy seaside town of Le Touquet in Northern France to witness Britain's Todd Kellett, on his Drag’on Yamaha, take his third win in a row, a feat only managed once before in the 50 years of running the event – the biggest beach race in the world.

As the reigning FIM Sand Races World Cup champion – a series that has been upgraded to full world championship status for 2025 – Kellett started the weekend as the firm favourite to win as he’s won the majority of the French Sand Race championship rounds this winter.

As the clock neared 2pm on Sunday for the weekend's main race, the 1,300 starters wound their way through the town's narrow streets headed to the beach. The seeded riders in yellow bibs - those who have a chance of a high-place finish - led the way, followed by the remaining riders, for whom the main challenge would be finishing the race in one piece.

As the last of the riders were making their way onto the beach and dead on two o’clock, the seeded riders set off on the five-mile-long start straight with the overly keen Paolo Maschio (Honda) taking most of the start gate elastic with him.

Junior Bal (Kawasaki), Cyril Genot (Yamaha) and Kellett were almost alongside Maschio as Dan Thornhill (Chambers KTM) was squeezed by Tias Callens (Yamaha) and Matheo Miot (Yamaha) and dropped back slightly but remained in the top 10.

With riders’ top speeds reaching over 100 mph, it was only a little over three minutes before they reached the first turn – five miles from the start.

Daymond Martens (Yamaha) claimed the holeshot prize and raised his fist in triumph as he powered his way out of the first turn. Matheo Miot was in pursuit, closely followed by Kellett, Milko Potisek (Yamaha), Matteo Puffet (KTM), Antoine Alex (Yamaha) and Adrien Wagener (KTM). It must be terrifying to look back as you slam on the brakes and drift into turn one, glancing over your shoulder to see over a thousand racers chasing you down and ready to use you as traction.

By the time the leaders came back into view of the main part of the track, along the sea wall, Kellett was in the lead and well in control as he got big air off the jumps and powered around the berms. That was the last any of the top contenders saw of him, as he didn’t lose the lead, even with fuel stops, for the whole three hours of the race.

Kellett’s pit stops were remarkable. He would take off his goggles as he approached the pit and leap off his Yamaha as it came to a halt. A drink with an attached straw was placed in his mouth while new, clean goggles were carefully fitted over his head to prevent sand from getting in his eyes. Meanwhile, his team used the quick-fill fuel can to dump just the right amount of fuel into his tank while blowing sand out of the radiators. Then, he was back on the bike and back in the race. All in a matter of seconds, like a well-oiled machine.

At the end of the three hours of torture, Kellett crossed the finish line just over two and a half minutes ahead of the second-place man, his Yamaha teammate, Potisek.

"It was an incredible race, and we’ve started the championship in a fantastic way," said Kellett. "I had a strong start and felt that from there I was able to command the race, achieving three in a row and a dream beginning to the series. It’s a long campaign, so we have time to work hard and ensure we do the job.”

You could tell that Potisek was not happy by his body language after he crossed the finish line so far behind his teammate Kellett, but it must be remembered that he was out of racing action for almost all of last year. “I have to be happy with my second place at this 50th anniversary of the Touquet enduro,” he said. “Thanks to my loved ones for supporting me and to Yamaha Drag’on Tek for providing me with the best bike. Also, thanks to my partners and the public for your enthusiasm. I will be back next year.”

Another six minutes passed before the third-place man, Lars van Berkel (Honda), crossed the finish line. He seemed to be pushing very hard throughout the race but was unable to close in on the flying Yamaha pair. “I had to come from far back after a crash at the beginning but I kept charging until the finish line,” he said. “I didn’t think a podium was possible but I never gave up and came back strong. I had a crash with my friend and teammate, Jeremy van Horebeek, and he went down hard. I hope he’s okay.”

In fact, he was, as he remounted to finish in 13th place.

Brothers Matheo and Florian Miot, who will both be riding in the British Championship this year, came home in fifth and eighth place, respectively.

Only 10 riders finished on the lead lap with the next Brit being the likable Dan Thornhill in 26th place. “A couple of things didn’t go quite as well as I would have liked,” he said afterwards. “I was running around the mid-20s for most of the race, fluctuating up and down with pit stops and others’ crashing. At one point, I believe I was in 20th but a big crash with another rider cost me a lot of time and I had to work hard to regain my rhythm to move forward again. The guys around me were all very strong and had considerably more experience at these races than I do. I think I’m lacking some race craft and know-how to avoid trouble after a good start. But until you’re in the situation, you can never learn how to deal with it.”

Ashley Greedy – who had competed in the Aberdeen round of the Arenacross series the night before – did three laps before trouble brought his Honda to a stop.

“I got up at 2:30am and drove from my hotel in Aberdeen to Edinburgh Airport to catch a flight to France,” said Ashley. “The flight took off at 6am and I got here with 30 minutes to spare before the rider briefing.”

British riders who finished in the top 100 were – Brad Thornhill (53rd), Sion Talbot (58th), Alfie Calvert (79th) and Mitchell Meadows (99th).

Saturday’s Quad race saw Oliver van Dendijck (Honda) make a fantastic jump off the start, but Jerome Bouron (Yamaha) passed him as they shifted up the gears.

As the pack came around at the end of the opening lap, Randy Naveaux (Yamaha) was in the lead from Romain Couprie (Yamaha), Manfred Zienecker (Honda) and Kevin Saar (Laeger).

For the next nine laps, Naveaux and Couprie matched each other and swapped places during their fuel stops and it looked like this was going to be a battle to the finish. However, with two laps to go, Couprie’s Yamaha came to a stop, handing the win to Naveaux, who crossed the finish line almost 36 seconds clear of second-placed Keveen Rochereau (Honda).

Throughout the two-and-a-half-hour race, Harry Walker (PSR) made his way forward at a smooth, fast pace to finish third on the podium while former FWSX British Quad Supercross Champion Giles Davis reached his goal of cracking the top 100 on a stock Yamaha. 

Saturday’s Espoirs (Hopefuls) race saw a victory for Jenairo Beerens (KTM) by one and a half minutes over Tylan Lagain (Yamaha) and Tim Lopes (Kawasaki).

Damien Knuiman (GASGAS) triumphed in the Juniors followed by Paolo Maschio (Honda) and Francisco Garcia (Kawasaki).

Incredibly popular local star Adrien van Beveren (Honda) was the winner of Friday’s Vintage race from Nicolas Dercourt (Honda) with multiple main race winner Araud Demeester (Honda) placing third.

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