Teams and spectators faced a different perspective on arrival at the track for race day of Round 3 of the FIM World Sidecarcross Championship at Plomion in France. The sky was cloudy, and a cold breeze swept across the Plomion hillside. The organisers had watered the track extensively on most of the large areas, with some water collecting at the bottom of hills.
Words by Barry Nutley – Images by WSC
This made life tricky for the early laps in morning warm-up, with a fair bit of cleaning up to do before the rider’s presentation. It was distinctly chilly, with no sun predicted, so conditions were probably more comfortable for racing than spectating.
Warm Up – As described, there was no dust whatsoever, so things could not have been more different from qualifying yesterday. This session took place immediately before the rider’s and official’s presentation.
Vanluchene/Janssens took part in warm up with a determined attitude, whilst Hermans and van den Bogaart did not appear.
Generally, the session was of little use in terms of extra practice, but more of a final check to make sure the bikes were operating well, and any last-minute adjustments were satisfactory.
There was no sign that further watering would take place, so things were set for the opening race due immediately after the lunch break.
As it happened, when the race time came, the track was in near-perfect condition, having had French national quads and solos tramping all over it.
Race One – A terrific start took Hermans/van den Bogaart into the lead, chased by Tim Prummer, Killian Prunier and Jason van Daele. The whole field was bunched for the opening lap, and Prummer was destined not to complete it. On a right-hander he went wide, Prunier and van Daele shot through and suddenly Prummer was out. The piston had cracked across the crown, so the engine failed totally. He had no choice but to dejectedly push it back.
The young Weinmann brothers saved face for Germany by riding a spirited and impressive race until half distance when they too disappeared from the fray. A stone had pierced the radiator, and they were forced to stop. That, not before they had scrapped hard with van Daele, Vanluchene and eventually Brett Wilkinson. This is another young German team to watch.
Also fighting through came the Lielbardis twins from a poor start. They really got into the action circulating very fast, first fighting with the Leferinks, then Wilkinson, then Weinmann and finally van Daele. When they got to within a couple of metres of Vanluchene at three quarters race distance, they looped the outfit backwards, eventually recovering to seventh at the flag. This cost them the series lead but they could take comfort in the fact they certainly had the speed.
At the front, Hermans/van den Bogaart romped away with an eventual twenty-three second lead from the Punier brothers, as Vanluchene consolidated third place from van Daele and the Leferinks.
A typically gutsy ride by Wilkinson/Millard rewarded them with sixth place and fifteen precious points. They lost second place in the standings to Lielbardis as Hermans leapfrogged to the red plate position.
Race 1 Result
Race Two – In glorious sunshine race two departed the scene at a frantic pace. On this track the start was all-important, and everyone knew it.
A blistering start by Killian and Evan Prunier took them into the lead and they were able to ride their own race from the front. This they did in immaculate style, much to the delight of the home crowd.
Tim Prummer/Rodolphe Lebreton grabbed second place ahead of Jason van Daele, Marvin Vanluchene and the Lielbardis boys. Koen Hermans and Ben van den Bogaart did not have the best start, coming round in eighth place after lap one. They had to fight with Brett Wilkinson, the Weinmann brothers and others before they could get on terms with the leaders.
They stuck to the task, with the series lead at that point going back to the Lielbardis twins.
Bit by bit the race settled down with Hermans gaining places every other lap, and Vanluchene doing a similar job ahead of him.
Meanwhile, the Prunier brothers were riding like men inspired, pulling out a ten, twelve, and finally a sixteen second gap. They knew what they wanted and were on target to get it. Prummer dropped back as the Vanluchene, Lielbardis, and Hermans train came by. Fifth was a respectable place for Prummer to settle and that is where he finished. Wilkinson/Millard meanwhile, made it to sixth place in what was another hard race for them. Hermans was up to second place and closing on Prunier when the flag dropped, but the French champions had showboated the final lap, with it all under control for the overall GP victory.
Race 2 Result
Overall Result
