Once again, the weather was kind, and a large crowd was already in the track ahead of the action on Sunday for the fifth round of the World Sidecacross Championship at Kaplice in the Czech Republic. Tension was high, with the main conversation topic the first bend after the start. A full grid was bound to produce a combination of brilliant racing and its fair share of drama. We could not wait.
Report by Barry Nutley – Images courtesy of WSC
Race One
A determined Etienne Bax hit the front from the word go and absolutely never looked back. He was challenged in the early stages by Marvin Vanluchene and Robbie Bax, but kept them at bay to finish eight seconds ahead of the former champions.
The battle behind was enthralling and also mystifying. Kert Varik/Lari Kunnas gated well and were fourth on the opening lap, but it quickly became obvious there was a problem. Varik kept looking down at his right side and managed the whole race with a damaged rear brake pedal. This was a real test on a track with steep downhill drops where most riders go into the turns at the bottom with the rear wheel locked up.
He was overhauled by Justin Keuben and Koen Hermans, then Gert van Werven had a go at him. At the front, Bax was supreme with Vanluchene still in touch. Koen Hermans had to work from his slower start but fought into third past Keuben and rode his own race. He did not show the speed we saw in training and could not better third place.
Behind, Varik maintained damage limitation, never panicking and keeping his slower pace going, managing to hold fifth place to the end.
Marco Heinzer/Reudi Betschart moved up slowly and got mixed up in a scrap with Keuben who had mysteriously slipped back, then got second wind.
Keuben/Rietman had a good weekend and should be pleased with their speed.
Result
1/ Etienne Bax/Ondrej Cermak. 2/ Marvin Vanluchene/Robbie Bax, 3/ Koen Hermans/Nicolas Musset, 4/ Gert Van Werven/Ben van Den Bogaart,
5/ Kert Varik/Lari Kunnas, 6/ Marco Heinzer/Reudi Betschart, 7/ Justin Keuben/Dion Rietman, 8/ Gert Gordeev/Kaspars Stupelis, 9/ Davy Sanders/Luc Rostingt, 10/ Brett Wilkinson/Joe Millard
Race two
Another tight start saw several crews locked together in turn one, but all the key players got through, albeit not where they would like to be. That does not include Vanluchene/Bax or Hermans/Musset. They were away in the lead, with Etienne Bax bogged down in fifth. Varik was four places further back, so he had a bigger problem. Hermans made a downhill pass on Vanluchene to take the lead eight minutes in, but four laps later he ran wide on a right-hander to let Marvin through again. That is how it stayed with a four second gap at the finish. Given this race was very much about points for the red plate and ultimately the championship, the focus was always on Varik’s progress through the field, and Bax’s ability to catch the leading pair.
Gert Van Werven proved a hard nut to crack, and once past him, Bax set of after the leaders. Varik too had to master Gert Van Werven, and that was not easy. Gert Gordeev/Kaspars Stupelis were also on Varik’s hit list, and they hung in right to the end to claim sixth.
Varik needed to stay as close to Bax as possible, and that he did, following him home to register fourth place and keep a five-point series lead going into the final round in Germany. This weekend was all about Bax and Varik, but there were individually strong performances from any number of teams, and we are all looking forward to the finale in Germany in two weeks’ time.
Result
1/ Vanluchene/Bax, 2/ Hermans/Musset, 3/ Bax/Cermak, 4/ Varik/Kunnas,
5/ van Werven/Van Den Bogaart, 6/ Gordeev/Stupelis, 7/ Wilkinson/Millard,
8/ Heinzer/Betschart, 9/ Wijers Soenens, 10/ Prunier/Prunier
Overall
Standings
Varik/Kunnas 197, Bax/Cermak 192, Vanluche/Bax 170, Van Werven/Van Den Bogaart 163, Hermans/Musset 147, Wilkinson/Millard 115, Heinzer/Betschart 109, Veldman/Janssens 108, Gordeev/Stupelis 88,
