ATV News Polaris Take 1st and 2nd Overall Team Luke Beechey Motorsports Polaris takes 1st and 2nd at the 2011Thumb pump 300.
Luke Beechey Motorsports
47 Industries presented the 2011 Thumb pump 300; it is Australia's richest, toughest and largest ATV Enduro race event and was held over the Easter weekend at Pinnaroo in South Australia.
Team riders Mick Roycroft and Luke Beechey raced in the open men's class with 18 entries on their 2011 Polaris Outlaw 525 IRS machines and were both hot favorites to take out the class and line honors for the event. They both also wanted to prove that they are serious competition for the upcoming Finke desert race in Alice Springs to be held in June.
The format of 200km on the Saturday and 100km Sunday gives the riders approximately 5hrs on day 1 and then to back it up with another 2.5hrs on day 2 in the whooped out sand track.
Day 1
The plan was for both riders to take a lead and sit comfortably leading in to day 2, both Luke and Mick didn't disappoint with Mick Roycroft taking the hole-shot from the lemans start and settling into a rhythm for the remaining 5hrs of racing, Luke passed Mick midway through lap 1 for the lead and settled into his own rhythm to try and catch the Pro 450 class riders for the overall lead.
With Luke's lap times slightly quicker and more consistent than Micks, Luke was able to pull a 7min lead by the 2 hour mark and was quickly catching the leaders of the 450 class who left 2 minutes earlier off the start.
On lap 4 during Luke's fuel stop team mechanic Thomas Andruschak noticed a torn rear CV boot, Luke decided to bring the bike home in one piece and take it easy to make sure he did not DNF. While Mick came in for his fuel stop he was told of Luke's issues and decided to push to see if he could catch up and push for the lead. Mick did make up 4 minutes and got to within sights of Luke but this is all he could manage by the end of day 1.
Day 2
Day 2 was a repeat of the previous day with Mick taking the hole-shot with Luke in pursuit, Mick struggled a little in the unforgiving rough track and decided to take it easy due to his DNF last year and bring home 2nd place. Luke however was feeling good and wanted to bring home not only the Open class win but the overall line honors, he managed to get within 2 minutes of 2nd overall but this was not enough to win the $2000.00 line honor prize.
The toughest race in Australia took its toll on many riders and bikes with the 2 day format equaling over 7 hours is very challenging and slow in desert racing terms, but with the prize money on offer this is the only race in Australia where you can punish yourself for hours on end with a reward worth it at the end.
The Team now turns its focus to the Finke Desert race over the June Queens birthday long weekend. Where Luke is a 2 time winner and Mick a 2 time podium finisher.
Placing Open Men
1st 52# Luke Beechey Polaris Outlaw IRS 6hr 39min 44 sec
2nd 5# Mick Roycroft Polaris Outlaw IRS 6hr 53min 59sec
3rd 910# Patrick Geraghty Polaris Outlaw IRS 7hr 11min .08sec
Overall
1st 191# Adam Larson 6hr 25min .04sec
2nd 27# Cameron Wade 6hr 37min 27sec
3rd 52# Luke Beechey
5th 5# Mick Roycroft
2011 Team Sponsors Polaris Industries, Luke Beechey Motorsports, Pure Polaris, HMF, Fox Racing Shox's, Lonestar Racing, Scott, Flexx, Kenda, DWT, Tunit Diesel Performance, Gatorade, Samboy, IMS tanks, Tubby Signs and Graphics, Cafe F3, Precision, EK chains, HST Powersports and Parmalat
You can follow the team at www.lbmpolaris.thumbpump.com
About Luke Beechey Motorsports
Luke Beechey Motorsports has been at the fore front of racing, riding, testing and building some of the best performance ATV's in the industry since 2006. Based on the Gold Coast in Queensland Luke Beechey Motorsports provides ATV, SIDE X SIDE & Motorcycle products & service for a large client base worldwide. We offer Sales, Service & Support on all brands for everyone from weekend social riders to large mining organisations that require fast and prompt service and custom products that meet there work load, For more information please call 07 5502 1792
published 1/05/2011 |