The grid in Estonia for round 6 of the 2023 World Sidecarcross Championship was not as large as other rounds, simply because of the injury situation and the sheer distance north for all the teams. The French contingent appeared to have defected “en masse” except for two top-flight passengers in the shape of Nicolas Musset and Luc Rostingt.
Race Report by Barry Nutley – Images courtesy of WSC
Sole British representatives were Brett Wilkinson and Joe Millard, in with a strong title challenge this year. The rest of the British teams are all out carrying long term injuries with the season already approaching the half-way stage.
Just twenty-one teams were split into the traditional groups with Group “A” looking the marginally stronger as Vanluchene was pitted against Hermans, Keuben, Lielbardis and Van Werven. Bax and Wilkinson were the bright lights in Group “B”.
The day had a bitterly cold wind but was dry, so conditions were good for the upcoming track action.
Timed Practice (pre-qualifying)
These sessions would be vital because with quads also using the track between the sidecars, the contour would be constantly changing, so a good qualifying race position really counted. One fast lap was all that was needed and the earlier the better.
Group “A”
Justin Keuben/Dion Rietman were flying, hitting the triple jump perfectly. Koen Hermans/Ben Van Den Bogaart were next quickest, with Vanluchene/Musset keeping their powder dry for later in the session. This was a proven fact when the red plate holders jumped ahead of Keuben with six minutes of the session remaining. Then it came alive as Hermans/Van Den Bogaart exerted their power to go top with a 1.46.508.
The Lielbardis twins were fourth fastest but almost three seconds off Hermans’ fastest lap, with Van Werven/de Veene next up. Marco Heinzer and Reudi Betschart could only manage sixth with their left-handed sidecar.
Group “B”
The only other left-handed sidecar was in the hands of the British crew Brett Wilkinson and Joe Millard. They were not too confident as to how it would work on this track, but they started well.
Sanders/Rostingt banged in a good lap eight minutes into the period laying down a marker at 1.48.839 with Van Daele/Beleckas close behind.
Almost half-way through and Etienne Bax/Ondrej Cermak had been very quiet until a storming lap of 1.47.612 stamped their authority over this session. Although this headed their group, they were still only fourth fastest behind the fast trio in Group “A”. These three teams would have pick of the gate on a very short start straight with Bax choosing next.
Thom van de Lagemaat and Han Van Haal were also strong in this session, posting fourth ahead of Prummer/Steegmans and Wilkinson/Millard.
In the closing stages, Tim Prummer made it to third fastest with a 1.49.683.
Qualifying race Group “A” –
An amazing hole-shot took Koen Hermans and Ben Van Den Bogaart into an immediate lead which they built on. Their opening lap was very fast with huge commitment over the high jumps. This was not a track for the faint-hearted and they certainly were not that. Justin Keuben/Dion Rietman gave chase, and for two laps held a strong second place, but Marvin Vanluchene/Nicolas Musset were coming, and coming fast. They surged by on lap four, but Keuben was not giving up the fight. His tenacity was to pay dividends later in the race.
Then came the Lielbardis boys, urged on by a large band of Latvian supporters. They stuck at it but were more cautious over the fast jumps. Nonetheless, they were still very much in touch at the finish. Stephan Wijers/Loet Van Der Putten had a great start, fighting with Gert van Werven/Robbe de Veene for several laps before the big Dutchman moved ahead, dropping Wijers into the clutches of a slow starting, but progressing Marco Heinzer/Reudi Betschart.
When the two-lap board came out, Vanluchene had some slight mechanical problem and once again slipped behind Keuben who in turn was some twenty-four seconds in arrears of Hermans/Van Den Bogaart.
Heinzer recovered steadily to finish a good fifth behind the Lielbardis brothers. There was, however, no mistaking the speed of Hermans. He was almost in a class of his own this time out.
Result
Qualifying race group “B” –
Brett Wilkinson and Joe Millard flew from the gate and kept it nailed into the first turn. It paid off to give them the best possible start. Tim Prummer/Jarno Steegmans gave them a hard time for the first two laps, but then Etienne Bax/Ondrej Cermak passed the German/Belgian duo on lap four.
Davy Sanders/Luc Rostingt sat fourth with Thom Van Der Lagemaat/Han van Hal and Jason van Daele/Kostas Beleckas in their wheeltracks.
Half distance and Bax was right on the tail of Wilkinson, waiting for a chance. That chance came over a jump on lap seven, but by this time the leading pair were well ahead of Prummer who rode a good race throughout.
Van Daele was not at his best today, but still fought with Van Der Lagemaat for fifth place.
Etienne Bax/Ondrej Cermak had pulled a five second gap over the British team before the two-lap board came out and must have been pleased with their work-rate. Adrian Peter was in a scrap for eighth with two Estonian teams, but kept going, holding ninth.
Bax’s lap time was over second faster the Wilkinson at this stage of the race, but given this track was not suited to left-handed sidecars, the British team could feel very pleased with their race.
Bax was flying on the final lap, sealing a good day’s work in qualifying – or so he thought. A broken exhaust was declared overly noisy by the stewards with a five-place penalty imposed. Despite all his hard work, Etienne Bax was demoted to sixth place handing victory to Wilkinson and Millard.
Result
Last Chance – As stated, there was no need for a last chance session as all entered teams made it through to start.
It was a great day’s qualifying with the main action still to come tomorrow.
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