Pas De Calais, France (2/26/2009) - Team Can Am riders Cathal McGilligan and Justin Reid made the 1200 mile road trip from the Emerald Isle to the Pas De Calais this past weekend, the French seaside resort of Le Touquet playing host to the 2009 Enduropale Du Touquet on Saturday 21st and Sunday the 22nd of February with hundreds of thousands of spectators in attendance. Teaming up for

2009 Enduropale Du Touquet ATV Race

their first competitive race aboard the new Can Am DS450Xmx, Cathal and Justin
travelled to the meeting aiming to get the 2009 race season of to a flying start, and after three energy sapping hours negotiating the demanding beach circuit, they had put in a fantastic performance from their starting position of 468th on the last row of the grid to finish a superb 33rd overall, taking 20th in the two-rider class and the highest placed two-man team from the UK, Cathal and Justin also the 3rd highest overall finishers from the UK.

Justin Reid charging on his ATV

Running for almost ten miles along the seafront and out towards the Stella Plage and back, the famous Le Touquet circuit provides a challenging mix of fast straights, numerous jumps and deep loose sand. With a starting position of 468th and the last group to start, riders put in groups of fifty according to their number with the groups separated by twenty second intervals, the task to make up places was never going to be easy. Taking to the line for the start, the drop of the 'Drapeau Francais' saw the group charge up the beach and out on the opening lap. Quickly settling down and negotiating the constantly changing circuit, Justin's initial progress was hampered somewhat by the huge number of riders in front getting stuck and blocking the circuit, but undeterred he used the excellent handling of the
Can Am DS450Xmx to gradually make up positions, the first planned stop just after the one hour mark seeing Justin having charged through and make up an amazing 351 positions for 117th!

With a full tank of fuel Cathal took up the challenge to move up the leaderboard and after a measured first lap to get a feel for the circuit set of at a blistering pace. With the stock KYB suspension soaking up the bumps and the Rotax engine pulling strongly through the deep soft sand, Cathal began to scythe his way through the field, the Dungiven native riding strongly and pulling in to the pit area for another scheduled stop just after the two hour mark in 65th position having made up 52 places.

Refuelled with High5 Isotonic and a fresh set of Oakley goggles, Justin took over from Cathal for the last hour of the challenge, and with the circuit now at it's roughest the excellent handling of the standard Team Can Am DS450Xmx came in to it's own, Justin charging to the chequered flag after three gruelling hours and ten action filled laps having made up 32 places to finish a fantastic 33rd overall.

McGilligan

Can-Am DS450 ATV boarded by Cathal McGilligan

"It's been a really good start to the year and a fantastic result in my first outing on the bike. Our starting position did make things difficult for us with the amount of traffic in front, but Justin did a fantastic job in the opening stint and I was able to maintain the momentum when we made the switch after an hour. The circuit roughs up really quickly, but after adjusting to it on my opening lap I was able to up my pace and move through the field. The bike is amazing to ride, and despite being in standard trim it handles as well as the fully modified bikes out there, and I'm really looking forward to the rest of the year racing with Team Can Am."

Reid
"The first lap especially was really frustrating because you can see the guys in front coming back along the sea front with no obstructions while we were losing so much time at the back. The bike was really impressive in stock trim, we just changed the plastic to reflect the team colours, stuck on a set of tyres, Leo Vince pipe and Flexx handlebars and went for it! That would have unimaginable a couple of years ago - the DS450 Xmx is literally ready to race. I'm happy enough with the result, given the circumstances but the main thing is that we never had to put a spanner anywhere near the bike during the entire race and we have qualified for a
front row start next year!"

Results:

1st. Romain Couprie 2nd. Jeremie Warnia 3rd. Jan Vlaeymans 33rd - Cathal McGilligan / Justin Reid (Team Can Am DS450Xmx)