Le 21è Mondial du quad qui s’est déroulé les 25 et 26 août 2007 à Pont de Vaux (Ain) a vu la victoire pour la seconde année consécutive du team belge Piron, sur un Yamaha 450 YZF piloté comme l’an dernier par le trio Alexandre Piron/Stéphane Piron/Guy Meertens.

Avec 120 équipages qui ont représenté plus de vingt nations, cet événement incontournable dans le monde du quad avait encore réuni l’élite mondiale avec de nombreux vainqueurs des années précédentes. Il est à noter que un tiers des partants était constitué par des pilotes de moins de 18 ans, preuve de l’intérêt grandissant pour cette discipline.

Les trois manches (trois heures le samedi, cinq heures de nuit et quatre heures le dimanche) ont été riches en rebondissements, sur une piste aussi difficile que technique et rapide. On a longtemps cru que le jeune trio Romain Couprie/Clément Jay/Anthony Jay, peut-être les plus rapides en piste, allaient décrocher la victoire. Mais c’était sans compter sur les rebondissements incontournables dans une course d’endurance.

En plus de l’épreuve reine des 12 Heures et de sa dauphine le PDV Quad Contest, pour la première fois cette année des motos ont pu tourner sur le mythique circuit de Pont de Vaux pour le Défi Motos. De nombreuses animations, tant dans la ville de Pont de Vaux qu’au sein du village Quadexpo ont attiré un public venu en masse. On a ainsi pu approcher Stéphane Peterhansel venu faire des démonstrations sur la piste au volant d’un Mistubishi Pajero du Paris-Dakar, rappelons-le construit dans la commune.

Cette année, l’organisation renforcée s’est surpassée et nous donne rendez-vous les 22, 23 et 24 août 2008 sur la plaine Bressane pour une épreuve qui est reconnue à juste titre comme une date phare du quad mondial.

Christophe GARCIA

Classement final Mondial
# Team Riders Machine Tours
1 TEAM PIRON PIRON (B) / PIRON (B) / MEERTENS (B) Yamaha YFZ 210
110 TEAM RACE MORIN (F) / BONNARD (F) / CICLET (F) Suzuki LTR 207
103 HOLZ RACING / DOUGLAS WHEEL GILLI (I) / FREDERICK (USA) / HOLZ (USA) Suzuki LTR 207

John Mitchell took an outstanding double win in round three of the European Quadcross Championships, held at the Hungarian track of Nyaregyhaza. Paul Holmes was also on top form as he took two thirds and moved into third overall in the championship.
Team ATV World Yamaha moved their gruelling race schedule to Hungary with newly crowned British Champion John Mitchell already leading the European by 12 points. British Under 21 Champion Paul Holmes was looking to build on his points tally and move into the top three.

It all started well as John and Paul went into qualifying. With such a technical track it was imperative that both riders got good starts. John made second, just behind Jeremy Warnia and Paul took fourth. The track was sandy and had some impressive jumps. It was also red hot with John describing it as the hottest weather he has ever raced in!

In the first of two 30 minute plus races, John was second into the first corner, he passed Warnia only to get caught on a burn and had to battle to take the lead. He then pulled away to finish with a lead of over a minute. Paul Holmes made an impressive third place finish.

John took the holeshot in race two and rode hard to pull a gap from second place, finishing comfortably with a 32 second lead. Paul Holmes was eighth off the line and had to work hard to move through the pack. This task was made even harder as the hot weather had resulted in blistering on his hands. It took real determination for him to break through the pain barrier and go on to take third place.

After all the autograph signing and poster hand outs, John and Paul finally made it to the podium, greeted by rapturous applause from the Hungarian fans. Thanks to the organisers for a great event, well organised and plenty of fun! With both ATV World Yamaha YFZ450’s working perfectly again the team now head to Germany for round five.

John Mitchell now leads the European Quadcross Championships by an incredible 25 points with Paul Holmes in third position.

Source: ATV World

For the fifth time this season, Harley-Davidson Laval Buell rider Michael Leon finished on the podium. Leon rode his Buell XB-12R to a second place finish after starting from pole position in round 6 of the Canadian Thunder Championship, held August 12 at Atlantic Motorsport Park located in Shubenacadie Nova Scotia

Michael set a new lap record during Saturday’s qualifying session, with a time of 1:11:303, lowering the record that he set last year by 0.677 seconds.

After a less than stellar start, Michael was third at the beginning of lap one following BMW riders Michael Taylor and Michael Ferreira. Within a few laps, Leon was able to pass Ferreira and chase down Taylor setting the fastest lap of the race in the process, a 1:11:435. After repeated unsuccessful passing attempts by Leon, Taylor was able to use his wealth of experience to stay ahead for the win.

Joining regular crew members, Carlos Carrascosa and Jonathan Payan was team engine builder Alex Grupp of Milestone Motorsport. With results being so critical at this point of the season, Alex made the trip from Whitby ON to Nova Scotia, by motorcycle to spend the weekend at the track. The crew worked hard from start to finish, swapping out motors twice in order to break in and try a new engine configuration, not to mention crash repair efforts from a lowside tumble on Thursday. Our results this weekend, and throughout the season, would not have been possible without Alex, Carlos and Jonathan’s hard work.

Elka Suspension’s Stephane Lepine provided valuable suspension tuning advice via telephone as the team battled initial rear traction issues.

With one round remaining, the team still leads the Championship, now by only 5 points, over Michael Taylor. The Championship will be decided on Labour Day weekend at Shannonville.

Note that live feed of the track announcer is now available during the race events at cdnsuperbike.com. The Thunder race is usually the second race of the day held at approximately 2:00 pm. Tune in on Sunday September 2 and lend your support!

H-D Laval is sponsored by Deeley Harley-Davidson Canada, Milestone Motorsports, J Precision Racing Heads, Elka Suspension, Revolution Performance, Les Importations Thibault, Bell Helmets, Hal’s Harley-Davidson, Primatek, Indigo Powder Coating, Woody Airbrush, Flexi-Glass, and Gianmajor.