Race day at Gdansk in Poland dawned for round seven of the 2023 World Sidecarcross Championship an it was dry and sunny, with morning warm-up getting things going.
Race Report by Barry Nutley – Images courtesy of WSC
The teams enjoyed the track during qualifying, and the general impression was a thumbs-up. Whilst the crowd was not big on Saturday, early signs were good with spectators taking up their positions on vantage points.
This was the half-way point in the season and the teams all knew how important this race was.
The team presentation preceded the first race, followed by the opening race for quads, and suddenly it was time for the action.
Race One – Thirty minutes and two laps round this track would be tough, even for the hardened teams, but for those at the top of the standings, there would be no time to think about that. Brett Wilkinson found an engine problem thirty minutes before the box opened, so he was rushing against time to change the motor. It was going to be tight. He made it with minutes to spare and lined up in the middle.
The gate went down and the charge to the top of the hill was on. Marvin Vanluchene emerged ahead, but Etienne Bax had actually beaten him to the turn, then ran wide letting Jason Van Daele, Hermans and Vanluchene through. Stephan Wijers/Loet Van der Putten also had an amazing start, sitting right with the leaders for two laps.
This quintet chased hard for the opening two laps with Vanluchene pulling a bigger lead each tour. Then Hermans/Van Den Bogaart were gone from the action with fuel issues leaving Vanluchene to stretch his lead. Van Daele/Dhondt were absolutely flying and holding Etienne Bax at bay for the early laps. Bax then made his move to go second, with Davy Sanders/Luc Rostingt also passing Van Daele.
Half distance and Gert Van Werven/Lari Kunnas sat fifth after a great race and hard battle through. Brett Wilkinson/Joe Millard made a fantastic fist of it to close on Van Werven.
With six minutes and two laps remaining. Hermans was back in business and up to seventh place behind Justin Keuben and Brett Wilkinson. The British crew were doing a terrific job from a bad gate slot.
Marvin and Nicolas still led, some ten seconds ahead of Bax/Cermak, with Sanders/Rostingt a very good third not far ahead of Van Werven.
But the Hermans/Van Den Bogaart train was back on rails and coming fast.
Wilkinson moved fourth and Van Werven was suddenly in the clutches of Hermans.
Out front, it was all but done for Vanluchene, with Bax unable to close the twelve second gap. Behind them was where the excitement was as Hermans overhauled Wilkinson to begin closing on Sanders setting the fastest lap in the process.
This was a cliffhanger going right down to the wire. Brett Wilkinson and Joe Millard could be very proud of their ride under difficult circumstances, but Hermans/Van Den Bogaart’s comeback was nothing short of amazing.
All credit goes to Marvin Vanluchene/Nicolas Musset for a copybook victory.
Result
Race Two – The temperature had risen off-track as the teams lined up for this one. Etienne Bax needed a holeshot here to get his nose ahead of the two main challengers. He did exactly that, making no mistake this. He was followed in by Vanluchene/Musset and Tim Prummer/Jarno Steegmans. Hermans was behind Jason Van Daele/Gianni Dhondt, who was once again riding cleverly.
Justin Keuben was out with steering problems, Marco Heinzer joined him and Gert Van Werven came round at the back, obviously having had a lap one problem or similar.
Lap four and Brett Wilkinson/Joe Millard were fifth behind Tim Prummer. They should, and would eventually hunt the German/Belgian team down to move another place up the order. The Lielbardis twins moved past Van Daele with eyes on Wilkinson, but the British crew were on it.
Still Bax/Cermak held on at the front, with Vanluchene/Musset on their tail lap after lap. Hermans was still third albeit six seconds adrift. At this rate, Vanluchene was on for another overall victory and looked calm in second place.
Lap nine and Bax/Cermak had stretched the elastic to over one second as they sought to gain more advantage. As they did so, Daniel and Bruno Lielbardis passed Wilkinson to get themselves on the back of Prummer and Steegmans. This would become survival of the fittest as the race wore on in humid, dusty conditions.
Lap ten and Hermans posted fastest lap, closing to within four-tenths of Vanluchene. Bax and Cermak were riding like the champions they are but would need to find even more in the second half of the season if they were to close Vanluchene/Musset down.
Still Prummer/Steegmans held a strong fourth, in fact consolidating it by extending the gap from Lielbardis. It was a much stronger performance this time out by the Weinmann brothers, sitting in ninth and looking good.
Van Daele was now in seventh but holding ground much better than in race one. Next lap, with four minutes left, Gert Gordejev/Aivar de Wiel relegated Van Daele one more place.
Gert van Werven and Lari Kunnas meanwhile, were having an inspired ride from last place up to fourteenth with three laps remaining. They would score solid points to add to the race one score.
In the closing stages, Hermans flew past Vanluchene but with two laps left, was still six seconds off Etienne Bax/Ondrej Cermak. It would be a nail-biter but was set to give Bax overall victory. Dramatically, Hermans was penalised two places for a flag infringement.
Result
Overall Result
