VAN-TASTIC!
By TMX Archives on 4th Feb 15
On a cold and windy Sunday lunchtime Adrien Van Beveren claimed his second consecutive victory in the biggest beach race in the world and retained his Le Touquet title on a very fast Yamaha.
More than 1,200 riders lined up across the massive French beach at 1pm to take part in the 40th running of the three-hour extravaganza.
But a strong wind kept the tide from going out as quickly as expected and despite some hasty earth moving and digger work on the first dune – more than 1.5 miles from the start – the resulting spray caused some major accidents before the riders had even reached turn one.
By the time the rest of the major contenders cleared the carnage Van Beveren had already taken control of the race and he wasn't
really challenged for the next three hours.
At the finish he claimed victory by almost six minutes ahead of Daymond Martens on another Yamaha. Track conditions took their toll on some of the big guns early in the proceedings.
Four-time winner Yamaha-mounted Jean-Claude Mousse and GP racer Marc De Reuver were out after only two laps.
Margate favourite Arnaud Degousse retired his Yamaha alongside the 2011 winner, Suzuki-mounted Steve Ramon, three laps later and a total of 137 riders didn't make it to the end of the opening lap.
FOR FULL REPORT AND PICTURES SEE TMX NEWS, FERUARY 5, 2015 (ISSUE 1957)
