Overnight rain had no real impact on the track conditions as the Qualifying races got underway for round ten of the 2o23 FIM World Sidecarcross Championship at Redbrae Park in Northern Ireland, it already having had a good share of water over the previous week.
Report by Barry Nutley – Images courtesy of WSC
Due to the distance and travel complexities, several teams from the lower order chose not to make the trip, which left us with around twenty-five regular high points scoring teams, so there would be no need to run the Last Chance qualification at the end of the day.
The onboard lap TV camera was mounted on the #721 sidecar of Neil Campbell and Ross Graham, local Northern Irish competitors and occasional British Championship runners.
Free practice took the grass off the surface, with most teams giving the track a definite thumbs up for its layout. Keuben/Rietman looked very confident, as did Marco Heinzer/Reudi Betschart. It remained to be seen where the advantages of left or right sidecar might be, if indeed there were any to be had.
Group B saw Brett Wilkinson/Joe Millard very much at home on damp, soft going as they headed the early times. They were narrowly outscored by Bax/Cermak by half a second. Once the track became more clearly defined it was going to be very interesting indeed.
Timed Practice – Group “A” got off to a good start with Justin Keuben/Dion Rietman immediately setting the pace. Koen Hermans/Ben Van Den Bogaart also got into the groove quickly as the teams became familiar with the track.
Best of the left-handed sidecars were Dan Foden and Ryan Humphrey, none the worse for their Strassbessenbach crash last weekend. At the half-way point, the 2.01.532 of Keuben was the benchmark.
Those were the top three teams, with Marvin Vanluchene/Nicolas Musset making it to fourth fastest.
Group “B” and the track was by now worn in and in good shape. Some ruts before the jumps were digging out, but there were several lines to take.
Brett Wilkinson and Joe Millard looked very sharp as did Etienne Bax/Ondrej Cermak. The French Prunier boys carried on where they left off last weekend sitting third fastest at the half-way stage.
Tim Prummer/Rodolphe Lebreton also looked good together, and they would certainly be going for glory once again off the gate. These sessions were about good start positions for the actual qualifying races this afternoon, and here the start straight was both short and steep. Bax edged the fastest time, going inside the Group “A” time of Keuben with a 2.00.909, thus securing himself a good choice. In the dying moments, the Lielbardis brothers found a 2.02.5 to jump above Wilkinson.
Qualifying race “A” – The short uphill dash took the left-handed sidecars of Foden/Humphrey and Heinzer/Betschart to first and second ahead of Davy Sanders/Luc Rostingt.
Justin Keuben/Dion Rietman were up-ended on the outside of turn one and joined the pack as tail-end Charlies with a lot of work to do.
Stuart Brown/Nathan Cooper were fourth but there were some very quick men fighting through. Heinzer was in trouble on lap two and came round at the back as Keuben shot past and moved up the pack.
Vanluchene and Hermans both gobbled up Dan Foden to go first and second but it was not over. With five minutes left, Foden was still in the mix with nothing to choose between them as far as speed went. Sanders/Rostingt were holding a great third place.
Keuben was riding like a man possessed to get to fifth and chasing Foden.
This track seemed to be a great leveller and they were all over Foden into the closing stages. Could he defend the place? With two laps left it was a close call between Keuben and Foden, with Keuben just two seconds off the back of the Brits.
At the front, Vanluchene/Musset were looking calm and composed, holding a six second advantage over Hermans/Van Den Bogaart.
Then drama, Keuben was up to third and Hermans down in fifth after a sensational final lap. Heinzer/Betschart recovered to sixth after a hard fight back throughout the twelve tough laps. Keuben/Rietman’s recovery was nothing short of astonishing.
Result
Qualifying race “B” – The rain had begun to fall for this one, but the track was still in great shape. Bax/Cermak took the hole shot with Prummer/Lebreton and the Prunier boys from Brett Wilkinson/Joe Millard. Moments later. Wilkinson was up to second, Passing Bax for the lead on lap one when the champions got it wrong on an adverse camber right-hander.
Then a fantastic scrap ensued for the first five laps with Wilkinson drawing away on some stretches, and Bax closing him down on others.
Meanwhile, the Lielbardis boys were on their way and were up to third on lap six. Still Prummer held fifth behind Killian and Evan Prunier with the best local team being Neil Campbell/Ross Graham in eighth. Seven laps in and Lielbardis had passed Wilkinson, riding faster than Bax/Cermak. This was real incentive for them in front of a good few Latvian supporters.
Into the final three laps and Lielbardis had Etienne in his sights, but seeing and catching are two different things.
Etienne Bax is not champion for nothing, and he was not going to throw it away. With rain falling, he made victory his, keeping Daniel and Bruno Lielbardis in sight on the hairpin turn at the far end of the track.
This was a good race, with lots in store for tomorrow, and conditions unpredictable.
Result
Two Grands Prix races take place tomorrow, and the face of the championship could easily change. This round in Ireland is on completely different going, but our superstars cope with anything.
