As qualifying came to an end on Saturday for Round 6 of the FIM World Sidecarcross Championship at Lommel in Belgium, the promised thunderstorm broke with a vengeance. Heavy overnight rain persisted with the result being a perfectly damp track for race day Sunday.
Morning warm-up saw Marvin V, who was present courtesy of Last Chance, run the Lielbardis brothers close on times. The Latvians were fractionally below a one minute, fifty second lap, with Vanluchene four tenths adrift of that.
Report by Barry Nutley – Images by WSC
The twenty-minute session also looked good for Prummer/Lebreton and the Leferink brothers. The start list was completed by the final two reserve teams, which included Gert Gordejev/Sten Niitsoo.
I, for one, was surprised to see Gordejev in this position. That was justified in his twelfth-place time and position. Four teams opted out, or were unable to take part in warm-up, including Gert van Werven/Aivar van de Wiel.
With the track riding well, and all teams very much up for it, this was poised to be a superb and vital weekend for the shape of the championship.
Race One – An incredible start by Etienne/Robbie Bax saw them skate round turn one ahead of Tim Prummer/Rodolphe Lebreton and Brett Wilkison/Joe Millard. Next up came Davy Sanders/Jens Vincent and Gert van Werven with Aivar van de Wiel. The red plate holders were down in sixth place and immediately gave chase. Hermans/van den Bogaart were also in the leading bunch but fighting in traffic.
Bax and Prummer began to pull away with the German matching Bax’s every move. They opened a gap on Wilkinson who was coming under pressure from the chasers. Suddenly, the AMS stopped, and the British crew were out.
Benny Weiss/Patrick Schneider fought their way to fifth at one point but turned it upside down in a big rut. The same happened to Sanders who retired, but the Austrians righted it and carried on, to finish twelfth.
Meanwhile, Vanluchene/Janssens and the Leferink brothers were making serious headway through the field fighting through to the point where on lap seven, Vanluchene was up to fourth and the Leferinks in eighth. Hermans was now ahead of Prummer and Vanluchene nailed them both to set after Lielbardis who by now had made it into second place. The action was so fast and furious, it was almost impossible to keep up with the changes. Van Werven retired, bringing the number of high-profile exits to three.
At the front, Bax had removed his goggles and was beginning to stretch a gap from Lielbardis, who was blissfully unaware the Vanluchene freight-train was coming.
Once on the back of the red plate holders, the defending champions had all the inspiration they needed and fired past the Latvians at speed. The gap to Bax was around twelve seconds, but Vanluchene tried with all his might to close it down. Then dramatically, on the penultimate lap, the Lielbardis boys dropped out of sight, having suffered a mechanical problem at the back of the circuit. They recovered to keep going and be credited with thirteenth place.
This was an amazing performance by the comeback Bax’s, and Vanluchene’s perseverance paid off with a reduced deficit of just nine points. The red plate is now not so far away and that will not have escaped him.
Tim and Sem Leferink’s performance from twenty-fifth place start, was equally impressive as they fought to fourth, passing wherever they could. Their speed was good, but they will have to do it all again, as indeed will Vanluchene.
Race 1 – Result
Race Two
Could Bax repeat his performance? Well first he had to make the best start, and when the gate dropped, he did it again. He was followed by Tim Prummer, Gert van Werven and Brett Wilkinson/Joe Millard who in turn were mixing it with Daniel and Bruno Lielbardis. Bax immediately stretched a lead with van Werven following in style.
Sensationally, as they came round on lap two, Vanluchene/Janssens were in fifth place and charging. Quite how they shot through from row two remains a mystery, but their progress was meteoric.
Van Werven was proving to be a hard man to pass, and there was a train of outfits behind him, including “new to the party” Koen Hermans/Ben van den Bogaart who had a sluggish start. Hermans meant business and got the better of the Lielbardis twins when they crashed over a ridge, capsizing in the process. Then began the fight back from the Latvians which they did well, passing teams very quickly to get back on terms.
Vanluchene meanwhile was charging through and within two more laps he was up to second place and closing down Bax. He took three seconds each lap out of the five-times champion before shooting past on a deep turn.
The Lielbardis troubles continued as they slowed, recovered, slowed again and finally expired in a deep rut two laps from the end of the race. This was a heartbreaking sight, but they have the speed, youth is with them, so they have all the time in the world. I do not think they will wait, so watch out for a burst back to form in France at Iffendic.
Meanwhile, Brett Wilkinson was locked in a battle with the Leferinks, which he won when they got it wrong on the penultimate lap. They dropped behind Tim Prummer giving him fourth place to add to his earlier fifth. The British crew’s performance was dogged and strong. It was just a pity they had engine failure in race one. Bax’s effort was sensational, and he must be delighted to sign off in such an emphatic way.
Race 2 Result
Overall Result
Championship Standings
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