Yamaha-mounted Arnaud Demeester, a 28-year-old Frenchman, won his fourth Enduro Le Touquet Pas-de-Calais (adding to his ’96, ’97 and ’98 wins) today, finishing ahead of last year’s winner Thierry Béthys (on a Honda) and the unexpected third-placed man Jérôme Hérémy (on a Kawasaki). It was Yamaha’s eighth success at the beach race, equaling Honda record of eight.
The start of the three-hour Enduro Le Touquet was at 1:00 p.m., and race director Hubert Auriol (who also heads up the Dakar Rally) waved the start flag. Paul Barbara took the holeshot, as Jean-Claude Moussé was leading after one lap, ahead of Vincent Thiollier, Thierry Béthys, David Frétigné and Arnaud Demeester. But Jean-Claude Moussé had to stop after half an hour.
It was Demeesters who showed the best speed, though, and only Béthys could follow the pace. Jérôme Hérémy and David Frétigné were unable to match the speed of the leader. As the fourth-lap refueling took place, Demeester made his break from the early leader Bethys. Demeester showed awesome speed around the tough sand course, increasing his lead on Béthys at the end of the eight laps by more than three minutes.
