There was a special feel in the air ahead of the first track action. That was free practice with the teams already divided into their two groups. Group “A” had the Lielbardis red plate mixing it with Koen Hermans/Ben van den Bogaart, the Prunier brothers and the likes of Tim Prummer, Davy Sanders and Jason van Daele.
Group “B” was no less strong, with defending champions Marvin Vanluchene/Glenn Janssens lining up with Brett Wilkinson/Joe Millard, the Leferinks and Weinmann brothers.
The track rode well, if a little dusty, and would most certainly benefit from watering at some stage.
As we might imagine, the top teams quickly got in the groove, with a good lap time needing to be 2.10.0 or less. Hermans/van den Bogaart topped “A” with a 2.08.765, whilst Vanluchene/Janssens headed “B” a full one second faster. Timed practice would sort the rest of the teams as it always does.
Pre-Qualifying practice –
That one fast lap might be easy to find, but how far up the order would that fast lap get you? Therein lay the challenge and both groups set about the task on a hard, dry track surface.
The Prunier brothers delighted their fans with a stunning group “A” session, jumping fast, high and long on this incredibly quick track. They were a clear second and a half ahead of Hermans, with Lielbardis and van Daele next up.
Sanders and Prummer were there too, but with some work to do to match the times.
The track was very dusty with Group B” yet to come. There was no doubt the French champions were going to give this home round their best shot.
Group “B” took to the track with gusto, with a point to prove. Most of the faster teams had watched the first session, so they knew what they had to do.
Vanluchene/Janssens kicked off in style, as did the Weinmann brothers, but well shy of Prunier’s time.
Benny Weiss/Patrick Schneider sat third for most of the session, and then a storming lap by Wilkinson/Millard put them top, shoving everyone else down a place. The track had cut up slightly more than earlier, so times were down, but still Vanluchene waited and watched. When he did go back out, he was immediately in the 2.08’s and back at the head of the pack.
Group “A” qualifying race – It was a short but fast run to the first left-hander. Twenty-one teams took to the line in two rows, with Daniel Willemsen scheduled to be at the back due to no timed practice.
Could Tim Prummer do his legendary start? Well not quite, it was Koen Hermans/Ben van den Bogaart who stole the thunder with a terrific holeshot, never to be challenged. Behind came Jason van Daele/Loet van der Putten, from Davy Sanders/Jarno Steegmans and Tim Prummer/Rodolphe Lebreton.
The Lielbardis brothers had a poor start by their standards, and this is not an easy track for passing.
Gert Gordejev/Sten Niitsoo were well inside the top ten and managed to maintain that pace despite the Lielbardis boys passing them. Bit by bit the red plate holders made headway but could do no more than fifth pace at the flag.
The battle at the front was immense as the Prunier brothers, urged on by the crowd, closed on van Daele/van der Putten.
Despite every effort, the French champions could do no better than a fighting third place at the flag.
Sanders recovered to sixth, with Prummer/Lebreton claiming fourth, and very close to Prunier. On this performance, Hermans is going to be a hard man to beat.
Result – 1/ Hermans/van den Bogaart, 2/ van Daele/van der Putten,
3/ Prunier/Prunier, 4/ Prummer/Prummer, 5/ Lielbardis/Lielbardis,
6/ Sanders/Steegmans, 7/ Gordejev/Niitsoo, 8/ Wijers/van Hal,
9/ van Werven/van de Wiel, 10/ Bendaoud/Pasqier.
Group “B” qualifying race – An astonishingly good start saw Frenchmen Gwendal and Damien Carcreff shoot into the lead from Wilkinson/Millard, the Weinmann brothers and Marvin Vanluchene.
This French duo proved to be ultra-quick in the early stages, but gradually they were overhauled. Brett Wilkinson/Joe Millard nailed them with a chance to pull away, but Vanluchene/Janssens had a better plan. They quickly got among the action, first passing Weinmann and then Carcreff to close on Wilkinson, who at the point was on target for five points from qualifying.
Vanluchene was ruthless, and spotted the fact that Wilkinson simply could not get the thing round right-handed corners. It transpired he had tried something which did not work, so we should see a better performance next time out.
Half-race distance, and Tim/Sem Leferink, who had been around sixth at the start, had fought their way through lap after lap to get on terms with Wilkinson. The Dutch sand-specialist were blisteringly fast on hard-pack too, and they were on target for a fantastic result.
Additionally, young Artis Devoldere and Alex Tourbier were spurred on by a strong French support and had a great ride to claim fifth at the flag after a race-long fight with Mike Hodges/Ryan Henderson.
Ironically, the rapid Leferinks, after passing Wilkinson/Millard to move second, were penalised for noise and demoted five positions at the end of the race.
The podium therefore comprised Vanuchene, Wilkinson and a delighted Weinmann.
Result – 1/ Vanluchene/Janssens, 2/ Wilkinson/Millard,
3/ Weinmann/Weinmann, 4/ Devoldere/Tourbier, 5/ Hodges/Henderson,
6/ Carcreff/Carcreff, 7/ Leferink/Leferink, 8/ Peter/Hoffmann, 9/ Hentrick/Lens,
10/ Mudie/Booth
Last Chance – The hot, dusty day had been tough, and seventeen teams who were outside of the top twelve in each of the two qualifying races had the invitation to Last Chance and therefore more work to do to fill the remaining gate slots.
A twenty-minute session looking for one fast lap was all it took, and six more happy teams made the cut.
Result - 1/ Weiss/Schneider, 2/ van de Lagemaat/Konst,
3/ Hoorman/Schlinnertz. 4/ Wisselink/Debruyne, 5/ Gouin/Gouin,
6/ Verhees/Vanhamel, 7/ Hengster/Jahn, 8/ Vos/Susebeek
The TV Highlights show will feature the qualifying races, so be sure to catch that and all the other news and events as they happen will be here on www.fimsidecarcross.com and all our social media platforms.
From Barry Nutley
