In front of over eight-thousand spectators at the spectacular St Jean d'Angely Grand Prix circuit, Holmes put in a flawless display as he piloted his 2010 KTM 505 SX to fastest lap in timed qualification before taking a 1-1-2 scorecard for his 5th overall victory from five meetings. Holmes amazing consistency throughout the series, taking fifteen podiums from fifteen motos, has seen his lead increase to eighty-one points with only seventy-five points still up for grabs at the final round in Rudersberg, the twenty-one year old entering the record books as the youngest ever winner of a European Quad Championship.
An overwhelmed Holmes commented after the meeting "it's been an unbelievable weekend and to have won the title with one round remaining is fantastic. I knew that it was mathematically possible to clinch it here, but with this being Romain's (Couprie) home circuit I knew it would be tough to win. We used the 2010 KTM 505 SX for the first time and got a really good set up to take fastest qualifier, and in the first two races I had to work my way through after top five starts, with the second heat a really tough one as I had the two really fast KTMs of my team-mate James Hellewell and also Mark Watson to catch and get past, and after holeshotting the last race I knew I had the overall win and Championship within reach so just rode sensibly and settled for 2nd. It's been a fantastic series and I'd like to thank Team KTM UK, KTM, my Mum and Dad and everyone else who has helped throughout the year to make this possible."
Spurred on by his recent victory in the Under - 18 category at the renowned Maxxis 12 hours of Pont De Vaux, fellow Team KTM UK rider James Hellewell proved once again that he is quickly coming of age, Hellewell taking 11th overall with an outstanding 13-8-12 result to remain in 6th in the series, Hellewell's valiant efforts in the first two heats as he fought through from almost dead last in the moto one and holding on to 2nd for the opening two laps of race two leaving no-one in any doubt as to the bright future that lies ahead. "Overall I'm really happy with the way the weekend has gone and the result that I've come away with" commented Hellewell afterwards, "this is a really technical track unlike anything that we have at home, but the Team KTM UK 505 SX handled perfectly and I had a lot of fun. I had a lot of work to do in the first heat but was happy with my progress, and the in second race I was able to hold off the more experienced guys until I made a slight mistake and dropped back some places. I've added another seven points to my lead over 7th in the standings, so I'm really looking forward to Rudersberg in a week's time where I'll be aiming for another good result."
For the six privateer teams who travelled to the superb venue it was another fantastic meeting, all finishing inside the top eighteen overall from the twenty-five riders entered, Estonian Meelis Jurgenson showing the outstanding form that has helped him to the 2009 Estonian Quad Championship to finish 8th overall, Julien Valentin and Sander Raik following Hellewell home in 12th and 13th respectively, with Mark Watson making a superb debut appearance onboard his 505 SX to make it six KTM's in the top fifteen.
With only one round remaining at Rudersberg, Germany on the 12th / 13th of September, KTM riders hold the lion's share of the top twenty positions with ten riders representing the marque, Champion Holmes accompanied by five others to make six riders within the top ten.
Results Overall
1 Paul Holmes (GBR - Team KTM UK) 25 + 25 + 22 = 72
2 Jan Vlaeymans (BEL - Planet Quad W-Tec) 22 + 20 + 20 = 62
3 Romain Couprie (FRA - Yamaha) 13 +22 + 25 = 60
4 Joe Maessen (NED - Ton Maessen Quads Yamaha) 20 + 18 + 18 = 56
5 Ingo Ten Vregelaar (NED - Willmann Goldspeed Yamaha) 14 + 16 + 13 = 43
6 Davy Brems (BEL - Planet Quad W-Tec) 16 + 15 + 10 = 41
7 Davy De Cupyer (BEL - Planet Quad W-Tec) 12 + 14 + 12 = 38
8 Meelis Jorgenson (EST - KTM) 11 + 12 + 14 = 37
9 Matthieu Ternynck (FRA - Yamaha) 18 + 0 + 16 = 34
10 Jason Macbeth (GBR - Proppa.com Four Tech ATV Racing) 15 + 1 + 15 = 31
11 James Hellewell (GBR - Team KTM UK) 8 + 13 + 9 = 30
12 Julien Valentin (FRA - Motoland KTM) 7 + 11 + 11 = 29
13 Sander Raik (EST - KTM) 6 + 10 + 7 = 23
15 Mark Watson (GBR - KTM) 10 + 9 + 1 = 20
16 Patrick David (FRA - KTM) 5 + 8 + 3 = 16
18 Branko Petek (SLO - KTM) 4 + 5 + 5 = 14
Series standings after 5 (of 6) rounds
1 Paul Holmes KTM 358 - Champion
2 Joe Maessen 277
3 Jan Vlaeymans 222
4 Stefan Schreiber KTM 204
5 Ingo Ten Vregelaar 194
6 James Hellewell KTM 127
8 Julien Valentin KTM 101
9 Sander Raik KTM 97
10 Tobias Bergstrom KTM 87
13 Timo Weidenbrucher KTM 75
14 Meelis Jurgenson KTM 74
15 Imantas Tamuliunas KTM 73
19 Mario Block KTM 53
 |
Off-Road.com Newsletter Join our Weekly Newsletter to get the latest off-road news, reviews, events, and alerts! |
Follow @Off-Road
Your Privacy Choices