Bowl a Rama!
By TMX Archives on 28th Oct 11
A group of French sand-racing specialists invaded the sleepy seaside town of Ramsgate in Kent and dominated rounds five and six of the 2011 All Terrain Event British Beachcross Championship.
Not only did they win all 12 Pro class races over the weekend, but this year's champions are both French as well,
with Cyril Debouck (KTM) crowned quad number one, and Arnaud Degousee, now on a Kawasaki, went unbeaten in all 12 of
his races, the solo champion.
What a weekend weather-wise, with both days offering a clear blue sky and relatively warm sunshine for the time of year.
the towns-people flocked to the sea wall in their thousands to see three blocks of four races on both days, with
timed qualifying deciding whether riders went into the fast Pro class, or the Experts.
In Saturday's Pro Quad races, KTM's Jerome Bricheux was in a class of his own as no-one could stay with him on sand
and he started off his weekend with a start to finish win, while Cyril Debouck and Julien Hartout had a race-long
battle for second and third while British rider Paul Hannam, contesting his first beach-cross event, slipped back
into the pack after a second-place start.
Auke Theuninck got the holeshot in race two, but by the end of lap one Bricheux passed both Theuninck and Hartout
and went on to his second win but just over 14-seconds. Debouck claimed second with Theuninck holding on for third.
In the final race of Saturday, Bricheux again lead from start to finish, as Theuninck passed Debouck for second,
while Hannam got the better of a race long battle with Hartout for fourth, ending his day on a high note against
some stiff opposition.
The Pro Solo class was all about Degousee as he was so fast he was in a different league.
He led his first race from start to finish with Cedric Tosatto doing all he could to stay with him. The pair set
such a pace that they lapped up to third place by the end of the 15-minute plus one-lap moto.
Jay Holloway had a great start but a series of crashes dropped him back into the pack as Timmy Andrews, fought his
way from seventh at the end of the opening lap to third at the flag.
In race two, Degousee crashed twice, but still managed to take victory, albeit by just under two-second, once again
from Tosatto. Belgian Thijs Verbrugge had a strong ride from 11th to third, with Blain Blackwell, first of the Brits in fourth.
FOR FULL REPORT AND PICTURES SEE T+MX OCTOBER 28
British Beachcross Championship
Rd 5/6 – Ramsgate, Kent (All Terrain Events)
Round 5 – Saturday
Pro Quad: 1 Jerome Bricheux (F - KTM) 25 + 25 + 25 = 75 points, 2 Cyril Debouck (F - KTM) 22 + 22 + 20 = 64, 3 Julien Hartout (F - Suzuki) 20 + 18 + 16 = 54, 4 Paul Hannam (Suzuki) 15 + 15 + 18 = 48, 5 Matthieu Vanstrazelle (F - Yamaha) 18 + 16 + 14 = 48, 6 Auke Theuninck (F - KTM) 0 + 20 + 22 = 42, 7 Antoine Viste (F - Yamaha) 14 + 13 + 15 = 42, 8 Louis Lener (F - KTM) 16 + 14 + 12 = 42.
Pro Solo: 1 Arnauld Degousee (F - Kawasaki) 25 + 25 + 25 = 75, 2 Cedric Tosatto (F - Honda) 22 + 22 + 22 = 66, 3 Thijs Verbrugge (Honda, Bel) 18 + 20 + 20 = 58, 4 Timmy Andrews (Yamaha) 20 + 16 + 18 = 54, 5 Blaine Blackwell (Suzuki) 16 + 18 + 15 = 49, 6 Renaux Guellaume (F - Kawasaki) 14 + 15 + 16 = 45, 7 Marc Darcourt (Honda) 13 + 13 + 13 = 39, 8 Michael Chesney (Yamaha) 12 + 12 + 10 = 34.
Expert Quad: 1 Laurence Stopps (Suzuki) 25 + 18 + 18 = 61, 2 Richard Horton (Suzuki) 18 + 25 + 16 = 59, 3 Luke Brown (Suzuki) 14 + 20 + 22 = 56, 4 Virginia Dufour (F - Honda) 20 + 15 + 20 = 55, 5 Kevin Dixon (Honda) 22 + 14 + 13 = 49, 6 Roland Hopkins (Honda) 0 + 22 + 25 = 47, 7 Paul Bennett (Can Am) 15 + 13 + 14 = 42, 8 Nik Blythe (Yamaha) 11 + 12 + 11 = 34.
Expert Solo: 1 Eric Croquelois (F - Yamaha) 25 + 25 + 25 = 75, 2 Ludovic Manier (F - Honda) 22 + 22 + 18 = 62, 3 Charlie Smith (Honda) 20 + 18 + 20 = 58, 4 Dave Dalligan (KTM) 14 + 13 + 22 = 49, 5 Joe Horton (Yamaha) 16 + 15 + 16 = 47, 6 Luke Wilson (KTM) 18 + 12 + 13 = 43, 7 Martyn Hobbs (Honda) 11 + 14 + 15 = 40, 8 Martin Venner (Honda) 15 + 16 + 8 = 39.
Round 6 – Sunday
Pro Quad: 1 Auke Theuninck (F - KTM) 25 + 22 + 25 = 72, 2 Cyril Debouck (F - KTM) 22 + 20 + 22 = 64, 3 Paul Hannam (Suzuki) 18 + 16 + 20 = 54, 4 Matthieu Vanstrazelle (F - Yamaha) 13 + 18 + 18 = 49, 5 Jerome Bricheux (F - KTM) 20 + 25 + 0 = 45, 6 Antoine Viste (F - Yamaha) 15 + 15 + 14 = 44, 7 Anthony Barrett (Suzuki) 14 + 14 + 15 = 43, 8 Benoit Cheng (F - Yamaha) 12 + 13 + 13 = 38.
Pro Solo: 1 Arnauld Degousee (F - Kawasaki) 25 + 25 + 25 = 75, 2 Cedric Tosatto (F - Honda) 22 + 22 + 22 = 66, 3 Thijs Verbrugge (B - Honda) 20 + 16 + 20 = 56, 4 Ryan Matthews (Yamaha) 18 + 20 + 18 = 56, 5 Timmy Andrews (Yamaha) 16 + 15 + 16 = 47, 6 Marc Darcourt (F - Honda) 13 + 18 + 12 = 43, 7 Blaine Blackwell (Suzuki) 15 + 13 + 14 = 42, 8 Renaux Guellaume (F - Kawasaki) 12 + 14 + 15 = 41.
Expert Quad: 1 Virginia Dufour (F - Honda) 22 + 25 + 25 = 72, 2 Richard Horton (Suzuki) 25 + 22 + 22 = 69, 3 Laurence Stopps (Suzuki) 20 + 18 + 20 = 58, 4 Luke Brown (Suzuki) 18 + 20 + 18 = 56, 5 John Elliott (VLS Rotax) 16 + 15 + 16 = 47, 6 Mark Teal (Suzuki) 15 + 16 + 11 = 42, 7 Lee Baxter (Honda) 13 + 13 + 15 = 41, 8 Paul Bennett (Can Am) 12 + 14 + 14 = 40.
Expert Solo: 1 Eric Croquelois (F - Yamaha) 25 + 25 + 25 = 75, 2 Jack Scott (Yamaha) 20 + 22 + 22 = 64, 3 Ludovic Manier (F - Honda) 22 + 16 + 20 = 58, 4 Charlie Smith (Honda) 18 + 20 + 18 = 56, 5 Luke Wilson (KTM) 12 + 15 + 16 = 43, 6 Martin Venner (Honda) 15 + 14 + 14 = 43, 7 Josh Horton (Yamaha) 16 + 18 + 7 = 41, 8 Martyn Hobbs (Honda) 13 + 12 + 15 = 40.
Final Series Standings:–
Quad Beachcross: 1 Debouck, 2 Bricheux, 3 Solinski, 4 C Brown 5 Taccoen, 6 Stopps, 7 L Brown, 8 Winrow.
Solo Beachcross: 1 Degousee, 2 Tosatto, 3 Darcourt, 4 Verbrugge, 5 Croquelois, 6 Ludovic, 7 Davis, 8 Simes.
