August 25 2014.

Words and pictures: Rob McDonnell

The Yamaha “dream team’ of Jeremie Warnia and Romain Couprie clinched victory in the Pont de Vaux 12 Hour classic in a sweltering hot France on Sunday, August 25th, as the British challenge faded in the closing hours of the race. The French pair - fastest in qualifying and every race – secured victory by over a lap from a field of 90 teams. However their challenge almost went disastrously wrong in the very first of the three races! 


Race three and 90 riders make a run to start the four-hour stint

With Warnia and Couprie having different tyre sponsors a plan was hatched to change all four tyres at each rider swap. Rather than change rear tyres the team instead changed hubs – already fitted with wheels – as this meant only removing one bolt instead of four. But in the three-hour first race, as Warnia led, the left rear came adrift. Warnia limped backed to the pits and once back in the race the pair fought back to third place at the finish. In the next leg, a five-hour race held mostly in the dark, they finished second behind last year’s winners – the Coma Suzuki team led by Florent Ramel – after rain mixed things up in the later stages. However, in Sunday’s scorching hot four-hour decider, with the two teams split by 16 seconds at the start, Warnia and Couprie were never headed.


Winner Jeremie Warnia rides in with three wheels while adjusting his goggles!

The British challenge was led by former winner Paul Winrow and Irishmen Justin Reid and Mark McLernon. After a second and ninth they came into the last race fourth, and were on course for an overall podium before a broken throttle with an hour to go dropped them down the order.


Highest placed Brit Paul Winrow on the JMK Yamaha

The Rocketman Suzuki team has been Britain’s best-placed team for the last three years, and they were the next British team home. But, it was not their start-studded lead team of Carl Bunce Stef Murphy and Dutch former winner Joe Maessen. Instead, the ‘veteran’ team of Lindsey Duke, Stuart Walker and Ant Barrett upheld the team’s pride in 15th. This was after Barrett had bounced back from one of the biggest crashes of the event in race one.


Lindsey Duke brings home the Rocketman ‘vet’ team in the final race

Next Brit up was fitness instructor Emma McQuaid – riding with the Willman sisters from Germany – in 18th. The stronger and faster McQuaid did the lion’s share of the riding – a body aching six hours and fifty minutes. She was one place ahead of Sheldon Seal, Darren Bridge and Clint Eagle who had a relatively trouble free race after a difficult practice. Really solid rides from Bridge and Eagle and some impressive stints from Seal ensured a good finish.


Emma McQuaid puts in another massive stint on her way to 18th

A great night time stint in the rain from Matthew Kirk helped him and teammates Gary Aldington and Toby Thipthorp to a fine 25th, after they lost four laps with “electrical problems” in race one.
The Bunce/Murphy/Maessen team ended 29th. Just as they moved up to second in race one a catalogue of electrical and fuel problems began, then in the last race Murphy had big crash when a ball joint broke up when he was riding flat out.


Seal/Bridge/Eagle were solid all race to secure a top 20 finish

The Rocketman team's ‘junior’ squad of Laurence Stopps/Harry Walker/Bailey Edwards started badly after Stopps crashed on the opening lap of the event after being hit by another rider. But they showed great maturity, considering two of the riders are only 15 and were making their PDV debuts, to work back to 34th. They were one place ahead of Chris Keitch/Jack Price-Draper/Ryan Griffin who had their own first lap crash, this time when Price-Draper rolled in turn one of race two, By the end of his stint he was back to 19th.


Kirk/Aldington/Thipthrop (61) in the thick of the action

The two-rider KTM team of Liam Garbett and PDV debutant Chloe Green were delighted to limp home in 69th after an oil leak meant they had to top up every half hour. The NORA team of Chris Murphy/Aaron Pole/Kieran Power ended up 71st after losing a constant battle with fuel pump and electrical problems on their Yamaha.


The Murphy/Bunce/Maessen Rocketman Suzuki had pace..but no luck

Sean Goss and David Cowan (who lost their third rider to food poisoning before the race) were looking strong after a fifth in race one. However, a badly damaged stub axle early in race two started a domino effect of problems, which eventually led them to slip to 75th.


Harrry Walker aboard the Walker/Edwards/Stopps Rocketman Suzuki

In the three-hour Kenny Cup support race, Scottish teenagers Murray Graham and Taylor Gibb put in a superb performance against a predominantly French field finishing third in the first race. However, an electrical problem in the second ruled them out for half the race and they were well down over the two legs.


Price-Draper/Griffin/Keitch on the way to 35th spot

An international youth race was also run for the first time with four British entrants – Ayrton Knowles, Alfie Walker, Josh Birch and Joseph Jukes. Knowles flew the flag finishing second overall.


Few teams were happier to get a finish than Liam Garbett and Chloe Green (13)

Result Overall:
1. Romain Couprie/Jeremie Warnia (Yamaha) France, 161 laps, 2. Mathieu Lallemand/Pierre Lardellier/Pierre Platz (Yamaha) France, 3. Thibault LeFrancois/Etienne Legrende/Etienne Sannier (Yamaha), France, 4. Ettore Ventura/Jan Vlaeymans/Antony Sousa Borges (Yamaha) Italy/Belgium/France, 5. Florent Ramel/Adrien Mangieu/Mike Van Grinsven (Suzuki) France/France/Holland, 6. Anraud Thiry/Randy Naveaux/Thomas Remacle (Yamaha), Belgium.


The NORA MX team ended 71st…about as many times they were in the pits!

British: 7. Justin Reid/Paul Winrow/Mark McLernon (Yamaha), 15. Ant Barrett/Lindsey Duke/Stuart Walker (Suzuki), 18. Emma McQuaid/Sina Willmann/Denise Willman (Yamaha) GB/Germany, 19. Sheldon Seal/Darran Bridge/Clint Eagle (Yamaha), 25. Matthew Kirk/Gary Aldington/Clint Eagle (Yamaha), 29. Carl Bunce/Stefan Murphy/Joe Maessen (Suzuki) GB/GB/Holland, 34. Laurance Stopps/Harry Walker/Bailey Edwards (Suzuki), 35. Chris Keitch/Jack Price-Draper/Ryan Griffin (Suzuki), 69. Liam Garbett/Chloe Green (KTM), 71. Chris Murphy/Kieran Power/Aaron Pole (Yamaha), 75. Sean Goss/David Cowan (Yamaha).



David Cowan (79), who rode with Sean Goss, flat out in top!


Joseph Jukes in the youth race hits the big PDV straight