June 17th, 2019.

Derek Burns rode as part of a two-man team with Alex Bethell at the recently held Goncourt 10-Hour in France, they were part of a wider British operation of four two-man teams running the banner of Team Katie #141.

Here, Derek takes up the story …
“Four British two-man teams were collectively riding as Team Katie #141, in memory of fellow 4x4 quad racer Katie Hodgson. Prior to the accident in Romania that tragically took her life, Katie was entered for this French endurance event. Katie was not just a fellow racer. To so many she was a much admired and talented friend and race colleague, key rider of Team Hodgson, daughter of our dear friends Gary and Sara Hodgson, partner to friend and fellow race colleague Richard Freestone.

The team comprised;
'The Boss' Gary Hodgson
Simon David and Steve Atkins, team #11
Graham Guy and Stuart Marley, team #81
Derek Burns and Alex Bethell, team #60
John Keys and Ty Guy, team #27




Coming from all corners of England, we met up at stop 24 on the M20, ready for our tunnel crossing and the 5.5-hours convoy to Goncourt from Calais. We arrived mid-afternoon and, as the first competitors on site, had the choice of camping.

The track is way out in the sticks of the picturesque rolling hills of French countryside. The excellently laid out track went through grass and woodland. The grass field sections were laid out like a maze with a long straight aligned with the paddock. A second field linked in and out by the woodland sections, with a number of near perfectly sculpted ski jumps. We walked the track and were all in agreement that it was going to be a fast and exciting race.

The 10-hour race was split in to two parts; five hours into the night from 8pm on the Saturday, followed by the remaining five hours starting at 11:30am on the Sunday.

This was guest rider Alex Bethell’s first event riding a 4x4, and his first ever ride on a Can-Am Renegade. His 850 Renegade was on loan from team rider Simon David, and expertly prepared by team boss, Gary Hodgson. The weather prior to the race was moderately overcast, warm and windy but by the start of the race, the temperature had risen, making for an extremely dusty race.

Team #60 got off to a bad start due to a developing problem with the front light, part way round during the sighting lap. I was faced with returning to the paddock to get a fix instead of continuing round to the start position. We had decided that I would take the first start, but this meant I wouldn't be allowed to enter the track at the start until the last rider had set off and cleared the track. Poor decision on my part as the repair could have been made on the track prior to the start of the race, and we had a top 10 grid position that was thrown away

The race started in light but within a couple of hours, the track was pitch black. From my poor start I pushed hard to work my way through the pack of 75 teams, handing over to Alex after the first hour. Even though it was Alex’s first event on a 4x4 ATV, he took to it like a duck to water, turning in some very competitive lap times on the Can-Am Renegade 850. The team of Steve Atkins and Simon David led the 4x4 class from the outset. Graham Guy and Stuart Marley following strongly, but sadly, a crash in a woodland section at the 3.5-hour mark resulted in Graham sustaining a bad injury to his leg. This also resulted in the first 5-hour stint being cut short by around 10-minutes to allow safe access by an ambulance. The quads were drawn into the park ferme to round up the evening’s racing.
Part two started with a bang at 11:30am in the order ranked from the previous night’s race. The dust plumes were thick as the weather got warmer again. An exciting 5-hours of racing was soon under way with the track cut in, and corners bermed-up.

The team #11 of Simon and Steve continued to dominate, with a firm lead in the 4x4 class. Alex commanded his way through four of the final five hours, thoroughly enjoying himself and cutting his teeth first on the 850, and then switching to finish the final 1.5-hours of the event riding my Can-Am Renegade 1000, to bring our team home in second place on the day. Due to the previous night’s incident, Stuart took on the whole 5-hour stint alone and put in an outstanding performance, actually placing himself and team #81 in third position in class in the Sunday results, behind team #60 of Alex and myself. Team #27 of John Keys and Ty Guy came home behind the Polaris crew of Jason Wildman and Jay Gropl.




Despite the sad circumstances, and some anxiety about Grahams condition from day one, overall results of the two days had Team Katie #141 dominating the podium of the quadricycle class (4x4) with our team of Can-Am Renegades. Steve Atkins and Simon David with 55 laps in P1, three laps ahead of Alex Bethell and myself, in P2. The esteemed Jason Wildman and Jay Gropl were just five seconds behind us, taking P3 of the 10-hour endurance race. We are all proud to have achieved a memorable result and Team Katie #141 moves onwards.

A big thank you to the whole crew who worked devotedly in the background - Tracey David, Holly Edgington, Ruth Bazen, Will Dunlop and Ethan Reece. Of course, the biggest thank you goes out to Gary Hodgson, who brings common sense, wisdom and all the rights skills to everything related to quad enduro racing.

I’d also like to make comment about how well this event is run, and the quality of the organisation throughout the weekend which is a credit to the French race calendar.”