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Lausanne, Switzerland, March 11, 2008 - World Champion Cyrille Lemoine and his trusted Sea-Doo RXT watercraft from BRP joined other titans of water sports at the starting grid of the 2008 edition of Karujet, the only leg of the World Rally Championship held in Guadeloupe and this for the 11th consecutive year.
Consisting of French pilots Nicolas Rius, Jean-Baptiste Botti, Brice Lopez, Jean-Bruno Pastorello, Didier Navarro, Jean-Pierre Simonini, Jean-Christophe Prayas, Alain Martin, Guadeloupeans Vincent Thomas and Davy Vaitilingon and American Chris MacCluggage, Cyrille Lemoine’s opponents were many, leaving the BRP pilot alone with his Sea-Doo® RXT™ to take on the sea of adversaries.
Unfazed by the competition, the multiple World Championship winner announced before the race, “Karujet will be long and challenging for both the racers and the watercraft involved. Adding to the challenge is the forecast for tough navigation conditions ahead. I've just gotten back on my feet after knee surgery and my RXT 2007 watercraft has a whole season under its belt, so I’ll take advantage of the superior Sea-Doo performance to try to make my way into any opening I can find at the start in the hopes of getting in front, making it to the finish and hopefully winning.”
Lemoine has been a fixture on the world racing circuit for over a decade and his record boasts some of the best stats in French Jet history, giving him a wealth of knowledge and experience, which he make the most of during Karujet.
The native of Lyon, France stayed true to his strategy and swept the first two legs of the race. The early lead proved to be lucky during the third stage, when a loose hose led to water intrusion in the body of the RXT and a subsequent short circuit in the starting coil. After a short time out for repairs, Lemoine was back on the water and back in the race but barely; finishing the third stage a full 70 minutes after the winner. However, thanks to the strong lead he built up previously, Lemoine had no problem getting back into shape for the fourth leg on Sunday morning.
As confident as he might have felt, Lemoine still had two stages left to complete and his opponents were itching to take him on for the win. With a close points race, Lemoine, known as “The Professor”, did his nickname proud during the fifth cycle, when he wisely invited his opponents from Kawasaki to advance on him and slyly remained in fifth place.
During the two-hour leg, where contestants were faced with 128 kilometres of the most difficult water conditions of the race, Lemoine’s opponents began experiencing vehicle troubles, allowing “The Professor” to surge ahead and finish in third place.
By the beginning of the final stage of the race – a 40-minute endurance run to the finish – the formula for victory was simple. Given the current standings, Lemoine had to finish the race but in the case of a victory for Simonini, could do no better than fifth place. At the starting gun, Lemoine realized that Simonini was not among the first five pilots and decided to hang back to preserve his RXT and not risk disaster in the home stretch.
Though his strategy was cautious, Lemoine was all smiles at the podium. “I had a great weekend!” he exclaimed. “It was a great course and both my knee and my Sea-Doo RXT held up, despite tough conditions and a long race, which is the most important thing. I’m happy to have won the first day but I have to say it wasn’t easy. My opponents handled themselves brilliantly. I had mechanical problems yesterday and today, it happened to other pilots. It’s all par for the course in this business. In the meantime, I have to thank my new mechanic Angello for all his fantastic work. Kudos to the organization as well.”
This is Lemoine’s sixth world title. He previously took home two World Offshore Championship titles, two Rallye Jet World Championship berths, one World Endurance Championship title and one World Racing Championship title – and all on Sea-Doo watercraft of course!
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For Information:
InternationalAntoine VallaSenior advisor, communication and eventsBRP International+41 21 318 78 83antoine.valla@brp.com
Product InformationPhilippe NormandProduct ManagerBRP InternationalTel: +1.450.532.6410philippe.normand@brp.com
