Bethys Wins LaTouquet Beach Race
| February 10, 2003
France Honda rider Thierry Bethys won his third Le Touquet beach race ahead of four-time winner Arnaud Demeester and another French rider Yves Deudon. Bethys, who is a regular on the World 500cc Motocross Championship circuit, backed up his 2000 and 2001 victories at Le Touquet with a brilliant piece of racing.
The Honda CRF450F rider started the race in third place and then passed Nicolas Cailly and Jean-Claud Mousse. Having put some time between himself and the field, Bethys went on to win by just under a minute from his major rival Demeester.
“I have always found the Le Touquet to be a challenge,” Bethys said. “This year with the difficult weather it was yet again a tough race. Demeester was able to keep me in his sights and winning ahead of him was a thrill for me.”
Also inside the top five at the finish was International Six-Day Enduro hero David Fretigne. Fretigne, who finished fourth and was the teammate of Demeester on the strong Yamaha France team, had held seventh place on lap one before dropping out of the top 10 on lap two. Using all his previous experience at Le Touquet, the Enduro rider moved into the top five in the late stage of the race, it was a really quality ride by Fretigne.
