The qualifying day of round 2 of the FIM World Sidecarcross Championship at Alqueidao – Torres Novas in Portugal saw the track testing the best that the world championship could throw at it.
Race Report by Barry Nutley – Images courtesy of WSC
Free practice sorted out some of the surface stones.
Today was much cooler, with cloud cover. This would make life easier and give perfect racing conditions. The two groups were selected, with group “A” looking the faster. My reservations about the technical nature of the track were abolished from the first turn of the wheels. All the teams seemed to like it, different lines were quickly established, and the huge jumps were taken with confidence. Spots of rain fell throughout both sessions but were nothing of any consequence.
Timed Practice
The first session got underway with early times indicating that anything below a 1.50.00 lap would be good. It was not long before Tim Prummer/Jarno Steegmans banged in a 1.42.80 setting the bar for the others to aim at.
Stuart Brown’s injured left foot allowed him to race but handicapped his jumping. On a track which needed full-on commitment, this was going to be a problem. Marvin Vanluchene/Nicolas Musset then nailed a quick time to stamp their mark on the session. There were no surprises in the top group with Hermans, Prummer, Bax, Foden and Lielbardis all in touch.
Group “B” and it was a few minutes before the quick laps came in.
Marco Heinzer/Reudi Betschart were the first crew to go below 1.50.00 but Justin Keuben/Dion Rietman edged ahead on lap three. They then recorded a 1.42.405 which put them over one second faster than Jason van Daele and Kostas Beleckas in second place. Poor Gary Moulds could barely walk due to a trapped nerve in his right hip, so he and Lewis Gray did just one lap before admitting defeat.
Qualifying Race Group “A”
Marvin Vanluchene/Nicolas Musset took the holeshot from a flying Dan Foden/Ryan Humphrey followed by Stephan Wijers/Loet van der Putten, Prummer, Lielbardis and Bax.
The jumps were enormous with the teams taking full advantage of them, as Bax leapt into fourth place. Moments later, the reigning champions were third, gaining in confidence by the minute. Koen Hermans/Ben van den Bogaart were down in seventh, not having had the best of starts.
Half-distance and Bax was up to second, with Vanluchene some twenty seconds up the road as Hermans moved into fifth passing the Lielbardis boys on the way. Bax and Vanluchene were doing near-identical lap times at this point, so for the champion to close, would be a tough call.
With twenty minutes gone, the die was cast, and Vanluchene was on target for another qualifying race victory. His season had started in style, and he and Nicolas could do no wrong at this point. Koen Hermans was now up to third, with Dan Foden holding off Tim Prummer/Jarno Steegmans. This was not to be however, and the German pressed to get another place.
Gert van Werven was next to nail the British crew, but what a ride they’d had.
Bax had by now pulled back to within twelve seconds of the winner, but it was a powerful display by Vanluchene/Musset to score victory.
Result
1/ Marvin Vanluchene/Nicolas Musset, 2/ Etienne Bax/Ondrej Cermak,
3/ Koen Hermans/Ben van den Bogaart, 4/ Tim Prummer/Jarno Steegmans,
5/ Daniel Lielbardis/Bruno Lielbardis, 6/ Gert van Werven/Robbe de Veene,
7/ Dan Foden/Ryan Humphrey, 8/ Gert Gordeev/Aivar van der Wiel,
9/ Thom van de Lagemaat/Han van Hal, 10/ Stephan Wijers/Loet van der Putten, 11/ Stuart Brown/Nathan Cooper, 12/ Sven Wisselink/Jens Vincent
Qualifying Race Group “B”
Rain still threatened but the sun was out for this one, as the gate formed.
The track was by now beautifully defined, with good approaches to the many jumps. From the gate, the short run to turn one saw Justin Keuben/Dion Rietman hit the front from Jason van Daele/Kostas Beleckas and Heinzer/Betschart for Switzerland. Prunier/Lebreton were next up followed by Sanders/Rostingt and Wilkinson/Millard.
That battle for fourth place was a good one, as Brett Wilkinson closed on the two crews ahead, bunching them all up.
There was still a long way to go in this, so it was far from a done deal, except for Keuben who had a seven second lead over van Daele/Beleckas.
Tim Leferink then made a move as Wilkinson faltered, moving ahead of the British crew. Sanders too was on a charge, and he and Leferink relegated Prunier/Lebreton. Sanders was also now closing on Heinzer in third, so he was definitely on the move.
Prunier fought back on Leferink, going fifth again, with van Daele holding a strong runner-up spot albeit ten seconds adrift of Keuben/Rietman. At the same time, Sanders overtook Heinzer claiming third spot from the tiring Swiss. He was now in sight of van Daele, so one more place was not impossible. At the flag, he failed, but had delivered a strong ride, nonetheless.
Result
1/ Justin Keuben/Dion Rietman, 2/ Jason van Daele/Kostas Beleckas,
3/ Davy Sanders/Luc Rostingt, 4/ Marco Heinzer/Reudi Betschart,
5/ Killian Prunier/Rodolphe Lebreton, 6/ Tim/Sem Leferfink, 7/ Brett Wilkinson/Joe Millard, 8/ Gregory Raymond/Jimmy Boucher,
9/ George Kinge/Paul Horton, 10/ Joshua/Noah Weinmann,
11/ Jan Polivka/Miroslav Zatloukal, 12/ Haske Hurkmans/Robbie Bax.
Last Chance
With the twenty-four teams home and dry, who would fill the grid? That would be decided against the clock. Top six would make it in.
As it happened, the rain came down with a vengeance, so things would be more difficult. The French pairing of Chanteloup/Chopin were the best of the bunch having been upended at the start of their qualifying race. The young British crew Hodges/Wilkinson tried hard to find the extra half-second, but it was to no avail. The French ladies Sophie Debosq and Clementine Thamri scraped in by the skin of their teeth as Gary Moulds cried enough with his back injury.
Result
1/ Romaric Chanteloup/Bastien Chopin, 2/ Michael Hodges/Jack Wilkinson,
3/ Artis Devoldere/Niki Debruyne, 4/ Adrian Peter/Joel Hoffmann,
5/ Stacy/Alex van der Veldt, 6/ Sophie Debosq/Clementine Thamri.
