After thundery and humid weather on Sunday, the sun was out again with a vengeance as warm-up set the scene for the two Sidecarcross of Germany GP races.
Race Report by Barry Nutley – Images courtesy of WSC
We spoke yesterday about Celina Jahn, lady passenger to Patrick Hengster. Well, they qualified as second reserve, so they were on track for warm-up. Sadly, the same was not true of the other lady competitor Belgian Colleen Van Troys and her sidekick Simon Dinneweth. They did not make the cut, so would be spectating, or already on their way home.
This could turn out to be a pivotal round with the shape of the championship at stake and Etienne Bax on blistering form. Koen Hermans and Marvin Vanluchene are also both riding with speed and confidence, so as we always say in this game – “anything can happen”.
Race One – Just as in qualifying, the Prunier brother hit the front in style. Despite extreme pressure from Koen Hermans and Etienne Bax, the French champions held this for a full three laps until the top men eventually went past.
Marvin Vanluchene and Nicolas Musset were then fourth behind the flying Frenchmen as Hermans and Bax eased away at the front.
Heinzer/Betschart were next up followed by Justin Keuben/Dion Rietman and German star Tim Prummer/Jarno Steegmans.
The Leferink brothers, Veldman/Lebreton and Wilkinson/Millard completed the top ten.
With fifteen minutes gone, Hermans/Van Den Bogaart had a two-second margin over Bax/Cermak with Vanluchene trying to get on terms and preserve his now-diminishing title lead. The Lielbardis twins were fighting up with Veldman/Lebreton, both teams making ground at the expense of Brett Wilkinson/Joe Millard among others.
The performance of Killian and Evan Prunier in this company was outstanding and they were now holding a strong fourth place. Their consistency was impressive, and they were on target for a great, if not personal best result.
Julian Veldman was now up to sixth ahead of Tim Prummer and setting fast times. His next target was the Swiss crew of Heinzer/Betschart, and the gap was a mere six seconds. It was game on for Veldman/Lebreton and they were flying.
Into the closing stages and Hermans/Van Den Bogaart were well clear of Bax/Cermak with Veldman/Lebreton now up to fifth and chasing the Prunier boys. This was a fantastic display by Hermans/Van Den Bogaart to grab a few more points and creep more into the picture.
Result
Race Two – Would it be more of the same with Killian/Evan Prunier launching off the line as before? The answer was an emphatic NO.
Vanluchene/Musset shot up the centre of the hill to edge Etienne Bax out of the hole shot. The top three from race one were in reverse order this time but Bax was still second and he needed to be ahead of the red plate of Vanluchene.
Behind was a frantic chase involving Wilkinson, Prummer, Lielbardis and Benny Weiss. This was a fast track, and the times were well inside two minutes for the top three. Hermans was quickest but Bax was not going to give that away and could not afford to.
The top three were unbelievably close and it was anyone’s fight at the half-way stage. Veldman was now up to sixth and closing on the Tim Prummer and Jarno Steegmans KTM.
Bax/Cermak had a massive dilemma with Vanluchene fractionally ahead and Hermans right up their exhaust pipe. The Lielbardis boys were a strong fourth, but Veldman/Lebreton were coming.
Wilkinson/Millard forced past Tim Prummer to go sixth, and that was good for a left-hand sidecar on this track.
The fight at the front was sensational and Bax/Cermak made their move with seven minutes left and a record one hundred GP wins at stake.
Hermans took Vanluchene on the same lap with the red plate slipping backwards after an epic battle.
With Hermans now second, the focus moved to Veldman’s progress through the field as he chased down Lielbardis. The Latvians were heading for another good result and were marginally quicker than Veldman, who must have been feeling rusty after so much time away.
Stuart Brown and Nathan Cooper were now in tenth place having gone past a slowing Tim Prummer. This was another stella show from the veteran just returning from injury.
With two laps to go, Brett Wilkinson and Joe Millard passed the Lielbardis brothers into a fine fifth place protecting their series standings. In the same move Veldman moved fourth, so he was a happy bunny. Davy Sanders/Luc Rostingt also slid by Liebardis to go sixth.
Bax recorded his 100th GP win and took overall victory in Germany, enhancing his challenge for the title again along the way.
Result
Overall Results
