The world-famous Enduropale du Touquet is being staged this coming weekend and for 2023 the biggest beach race in the world takes on extra-special significance as the opening round of the all-new FIM Sand Races World Cup.
With upwards of two-thousand competitors and the inherently unpredictable nature of this type of racing, who will emerge victorious after three hours in the punishing sand of northern France is far too tough to call.
However, one thing that is for certain is that the French Drag’on Tek Yamaha team will be aiming to repeat its one-two finishes last year with Milko Potisek and Todd Kellett.
The pair are back for the forty-seventh edition of the iconic event that runs from 3-5 February with thirty-three-year-old Potisek, who was born just over one-hundred kilometres north of Le Touquet in Dunkirk, hoping to defend his crown and claim a fourth win.
Kellett is still looking for his first Enduropale du Touquet victory, but after wrestling the coveted Champion de France des Sables beach race title away from his team-mate earlier this year, the twenty-five-year-old British sand specialist will be determined to go one better this time around.
Both riders have registered for the inaugural three-round FIM Sand Races World Cup which after this weekend will take competitors to South America for the Enduro del Verano in Argentina – regarded as the premier event of its kind in Latin America – on 24-26 February before the series signs off in December on Monte Gordo Beach in Portugal’s Algarve region.
The results from Enduropale du Touquet should provide a good form guide for followers of the new World Cup competition with seven riders out of last year’s top-ten solo finishers registered for this exciting new competition including France’s Alexis Collignon – KTM who was fourth in 2022 and Cyril Genot – Honda from Belgium who was sixth.
Also signed up to contest the series is fast French female Mathilde Denis – Honda, Daymond Martens – Honda who won Le Touquet in 2017 and former MXGP racer Yentel Martens – Honda, the son of 1993 FIM 500cc Motocross World Champion Jacky.
The Quad class will also be incredibly competitive at Le Touquet where having double the number of wheels most definitely does not make it twice as easy.
The French pairing recorded top-ten finishes at Le Touquet last year, though will face stiff opposition this coming weekend – and in the World Cup competition – from racers of the calibre of Dakar stage winner Thierry Vigier and former French champion Axel Dutrie.
For full event details visit: https://www.enduropaledutouquet.fr
FIM Communications