Yamaha riders have dominated the 2016 Enduropale du Touquet Pas-de-Calais with Adrien Van Beveren making history by winning the famous French sand race for the third year in a row as he lead a all blue podium.

Van Beveren Racing for the Yamalube Drag’On Tek race team took a new turn in his career in 2016 and focused on the rally-raid which turned out to be a great decision for the Frenchman after he finished sixth overall and was the highest finishing French rider in only his first Dakar Rally.

Returning home from Argentina just two weeks, Van Beveren was a big favorite heading into the Le Touquet sands and he did not fail in achieving his goal, becoming not only the first rider to successfully defend his title twice in a row but also becoming the first Dakar rider to win the Enduropale du Touquet Pas-de-Calais.

“I am so happy, you can’t imagine what I am feeling now.” Van Beveren commented. “This Enduropale race was probably the hardest one to win but also the one I wanted the most to win… and that made all the difference.

“You can’t win all the time but when you win like this, it is so good!

“I competed during 10 000 kilometres on the Dakar Rally; here I needed to stand firm for only three hours on Le Touquet’s sand beach. When you come back from the Dakar Rally, you are not exactly the same any more; the way I am dealing with the difficulty and my ability to go beyond myself completely changed. The fact that I am participating in new extremes competitions makes me stronger.

“The Enduropale du Touquet is such an important race for me, it represents a lot in my career, this beach is my place and the crowd is amazing. I share a thought for Jean-Claude Moussé. It was his last Enduropale race today. He is a talented rider and I hope he will keep training with me.”

Finishing behind Van Beveren was Yamaha’s Axel Van De Sande with Yamaha mounted Camille Chapeliere rounding out the podium and in the process wrapping up the 2015-16 French Sand Championship.

“It is a good third place that has a special meaning for me because it is my first podium ever on the Enduropale du Touquet Pas-de-Calais.” Chapeliere enthused. “At the same time I become French Sand Champion!

“It is a huge investment every day to manage to get to this level and I would like to thank all the people who supported me during the whole season. I am very happy and I will be back with the number one plate next year.”