Nathan Watson continued his sand dominance by becoming the first British rider ever to win the Le Touquet Beach Race in France today.
Feature image courtesy of Haudiquert Pascal
With over 1400 riders lining up for the 3 hours, the race is a huge test of man and machine and can become a survival of the fittest, which for the front runners it literally did.
For much of the first hour Watson was sitting on the fringes of the top 5, but those in front who were setting a blistering pace started to fall by the way side. An epic dual at the front saw French KTM racer Camille Chapeliere fall foul of the traffic, as did Jeremy Van Horebeek who at the time was holding a commanding lead. Some tactical pitstops and dogged determination saw Watson up to second, and chasing down last years champ Milko Potisek. With the pair changing places the tactical prowess in the pits from the KTM team came good, and Watson emerged from the last paddock visit with the clear lead to bring it home for the fantastic win, from Daymond Martens in second and Richard Fura third.
While it was jubilation for Watson it was heartbreak for three times Weston Beach Race winner Todd Kellett who had worked his way up to the top 5, only for his machine to expire just 15 minutes from the end. The results show Todd finishing in 32nd.
Four other Brits made the top 100, with Scot Stefan Simpson a superb 13th, Rob Holyoake riding an excellent race to pull in 10’s of places to finish 34th. John Robson came home in 48th while Ben Hunt was 61st. Well done guys.
Results
Top 100
1 8 WATSON Nathan 15 –
2 4 MARTENS Daymond 15 04:55.5
3 18 FURA Richard 15 06:53.4
4 42 VAN BEVEREN Adrien 15 07:56.2
5 7 WATEL Stephane 15 10:44.3
6 35 PETROV Petar 15 13:53.1
7 14 SOT Maxime 15 13:56.2
8 6 BROSSIER Victor 15 15:23.5
9 15 POTISEK Milko 14 1 Tr.
10 32 FLORIN Timothee 14 1 Tr.
11 11 HAUQUIER Jeremy 14 1 Tr.
12 20 MEPLON Marshall 13 2 Tr.
13 41 SIMPSON Stefan 13 2 Tr.
14 36 BONNEAU Jeremy 13 2 Tr.
15 19 BECKER Florent 13 2 Tr.
16 50 GEMBALA Sabry 13 2 Tr.
17 38 MULEC Toni 13 2 Tr.
18 161 MOLLON Eddy 13 2 Tr.
19 47 BETHYS Andy 13 2 Tr.
20 31 LOUIS Tim 13 2 Tr.
21 91 ABGRALL David 13 2 Tr.
22 166 LEVREAU Mickael 13 2 Tr.
23 77 LAMOUR Adrien 13 2 Tr.
24 28 BRANCO Kilian 13 2 Tr.
25 21 MOREL Pierre 13 2 Tr.
26 10 JEANNE Maxime 13 2 Tr.
27 159 BOIDRAS Benjamin 13 2 Tr.
28 59 CAMPET Julien 13 2 Tr.
29 23 CAZAUNAU Benjamin 13 2 Tr.
30 97 JORRY Adrian 13 2 Tr.
31 39 THIOLLIER Vincent 13 2 Tr.
32 40 KELLETT Todd 12 3 Tr.
33 51 THOREL Francois 12 3 Tr.
34 45 HOLYOAKE Robert 12 3 Tr.
35 26 GERMAIN Marc 12 3 Tr.
36 61 CAILLET Alexandre 12 3 Tr.
37 287 BELMANS Raf 12 3 Tr.
38 78 RENAUX Guillaume 12 3 Tr.
39 65 CARAT Yann 12 3 Tr.
40 86 FERRY Loic 12 3 Tr.
41 55 LEROY Richard 12 3 Tr.
42 71 NOWAK Quentin 12 3 Tr.
43 140 MALET Brice 12 3 Tr.
44 24 JORE Sullivan 12 3 Tr.
45 147 PIWOWARCZYK Benjamin 12 3 Tr.
46 79 DROOGHAAG Daniel 12 3 Tr.
47 43 PAIN Olivier 12 3 Tr.
48 1204 ROBSON John 12 3 Tr.
49 44 MOREL Alexandre 12 3 Tr.
50 110 CHARPENTIER Jeremy 12 3 Tr.
51 13 WESTELYNCK Marc Antoine 12 3 Tr.
52 66 MANEGE Kevin 12 3 Tr.
53 73 GENDRON Florent 12 3 Tr.
54 107 GAPAIX Enzo 12 3 Tr.
55 304 CHARRAULT Antoine 12 3 Tr.
56 123 SICOULY Loic 12 3 Tr.
57 106 PIERLOT Guillaume 12 3 Tr.
58 49 VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy 11 4 Tr.
59 5 DEWULF Jeffrey 11 4 Tr.
60 88 LEMAN Cedric 11 4 Tr.
61 615 HUNT Ben 11 4 Tr.
62 60 HILLAIRET-COLLET Timothee 11 4 Tr.
63 76 LABBE Alexis 11 4 Tr.
64 258 MAZEAU Axel 11 4 Tr.
65 302 MEKIL Aurelien 11 4 Tr.
66 254 VERON Carl 11 4 Tr.
67 301 BAUDUIN Julian 11 4 Tr.
68 208 LEGRAND Maxime 11 4 Tr.
69 114 DESURMONT Romain 11 4 Tr.
70 96 DELPIERRE Remi 11 4 Tr.
71 57 PEREZ Mathis 11 4 Tr.
72 139 COLLEATTE Romain 11 4 Tr.
73 212 BULTEZ Alexis 11 4 Tr.
74 293 HENRY Lilian 11 4 Tr.
75 267 PENKO Jeremy 11 4 Tr.
76 218 DULOT Matthieu 11 4 Tr.
77 92 LORIDAN Raphael 11 4 Tr.
78 81 SAUVAGE Guillaume 11 4 Tr.
79 68 AUBERT Antoine 11 4 Tr.
80 95 PARPAIX Kevin 11 4 Tr.
81 226 THIEFFRY Damien 11 4 Tr.
82 204 VANBREMEERSCH Clement 11 4 Tr.
83 80 DOBREMETZ Benjamin 11 4 Tr.
84 802 AUZOUX Anthony 11 4 Tr.
85 708 GHAYE Didier 11 4 Tr.
86 327 HATTE Benjamin 11 4 Tr.
87 90 CROIN Nicolas 11 4 Tr.
88 325 GABREAUX Mickael 11 4 Tr.
89 328 LEMONNIER Theo 11 4 Tr.
90 149 CLAISSE Clement 11 4 Tr.
91 792 BARBARIT Karl 11 4 Tr.
92 1164 KOUVTANOVITCH Julien 11 4 Tr.
93 70 MOREL Kevin 11 4 Tr.
94 120 MOREL Alan 11 4 Tr.
95 622 PENDIKAINEN Antti 11 4 Tr.
96 298 VIARD Quentin 11 4 Tr.
97 84 SOPIELA Sebastien 11 4 Tr.
98 369 SNIP Lars 11 4 Tr.
99 82 COQUERELLE Corentin 11 4 Tr.
100 335 BOUTROUILLE Nicolas 11 4 Tr.
The full race results can be viewed here
