The weather was idyllic for qualifying Saturday, with temperatures in the mid-twenties forecast for the day. A large entry of almost fifty teams meant a full house and intense competition for the thirty-two start line slots. Lommel is a popular venue for teams and spectators alike, and there would be some disappointed non-starters for the Grand Prix races. The group ballot was done, and the morning sessions reminded us of the deep sandy conditions which have become Lommel’s trademark.
Free practice was a very busy affair, as the crowd began to build. This is a popular track with good VIP spectator facilities and an excellent clubhouse terrace. Once the free sessions were over, the real business of earning a good start place began.
There were no surprises in group “A” as the Lielbardis twins circulated quickest ahead of the Prunier brothers. Tim and Sem Leferink made it an all-sibling affair across the top three. The addition of Etienne and Robbie Bax in group “B” along with the Weinmann boys made it five sets of brothers, with Stuart and Jake Brown, each with their respective passengers, competing head-to-head as father and son.
In group “B”, Tim Prummer/Rodolphe Lebreton showed no ill-effects from the Gdansk crash, heading Hermans/van den Bogaart by a whisker, with Jason van Daele and Etienne Bax hard on his heels. Marvin Vanluchene/Glenn Janssens were fourth fastest, but there was surely more to come from them.
Pre-Qualifying practice –
As the track dug out it would be harder to set a fast lap, so a good time would need to be in the early stages of this session. From the word go, the group “A” teams got going. Lielbardis laid down an early marker, with Benny Weiss/Patrick Schneider and the Leferinks in close attendance.
Prunier looked extremely quick, but that was not reflected in their time. They were behind Stephan Wijers/Han van Hal, who in fairness, are very good in this sandy terrain. Half-distance, and the Leferink brothers eclipsed the Lielbardis lap to go top with a 1.43.963. Despite their best efforts, the red plate holders stayed second fastest, with Weiss/Schneider claiming third.
Group “B” started strong, but could anyone better Leferink’s time?
The track was just as the previous group had left it with no grading, so an early lap would be vital. Marvin Vanluchene set his stall out on his second lap going to the top ahead of Prummer with a 1.48.413, but this was well shy of what he needed. Hermans and Bax were third and fourth quickest at this stage.
Prummer/Lebreton were doing a great job, with Vanluchene/Janssens still sitting top with ten minutes left on the clock. As the track deteriorated, the chances of improvement slipped away, so that was how it stayed.
Daniels Lielbardis and Marvin Vanluchene would have first pick of the gate for the two qualification races.
Group “A” qualifying race – Down went the gate with a short charge to the first left-hander. Names we are not accustomed to flew into the lead as Junior Verhelst/Sabbe Dagwin grabbed the holeshot ahead of the Leferink brothers.
The Lielbardis boys sat third, ahead of Killian/Evan Prunier. Then came one or two more new names who obviously are at home in the sand. They included Davy Ebben/Nick Maas who went on to claim fifth place ahead of Vos and Susebeek. They were also mixing it with Weiss/Schneider as they battled to seventh at the flag. Meanwhile, Brett Wilkinson/Joe Millard had tangled with Stephan Wijers/Han van Hal at the start, and this pair began a charge through the field eventually to finish in third and fourth places respectively.
However, their progress was greatly assisted by Tim and Sem Leferink retiring on lap six with mechanical problems. This was a real blow to the local brothers who have been improving by the week.
But once in front, the Lielbardis boys opened a huge lead of over twenty seconds from Prunier, with Wilkinson a further eight seconds back.
With the top five scoring points, this was a job well done.
Result – 1/ Lielbardis/Lielbardis, 2/ Prunier/Prunier, 3/ Wilkinson/Millard,
4/ Wijers/van Hal, 5/ Ebben/Maas, 6/ Vos/Susebeek, 7/ Weiss/Schneider,
8/ Verhelst/Dagwin, 9/ Verhees/Vanhamel, 10/ De Cock/De Wylder
Group “B” qualifying race –
This was an amazing comeback for the Bax brothers, with Etienne grabbing the lead at turn one, never to look back. Koen Hermans/Ben van den Bogaart, Marvin Vanluchene/Glenn Janssens and Gert van Werven/Aivar van de Wiel were all bunched up fighting for second place with Frank Mulders as Tim Prummer began a charge. He did not immediately hit the front as we have been accustomed to seeing. He became embroiled in a hard battle with Frank Mulders/Mark van Deutekom who rode a terrific race underlining their sand skills.
Van Werven was pushing very hard and leapt into second place briefly before falling foul of a deep banking and getting crossed up. Aivar dragged the bike round and they set off again. Meanwhile, Bax and Hermans were fighting at the front ahead of Vanluchene, when the defending champion appeared to get something tangled in his rear wheel. They eventually got going but stopped once again with what seemed to be engine trouble. This ruled them out of contention and into Last Chance. It also allowed those teams behind to gain qualifying points on them.
Once Tim Prummer got into third, he set about catching Hermans, but the gap was too big. Similarly, Hermans could get to within two seconds of the race leaders, but no more.
It was a dream return for the five-times champion and he can now only hope he and Robbie are fit enough for thirty minutes. That will be the supreme test.
Result – 1/ Bax/Bax, 2/ Hermans/van den Bogaart, 3/ Prummer/Lebreton,
4/ Mulders/Van Deutekom, 5/ Grondman/Wesselink, 6/ van Werven/van de Wiel, 7/ Sanders/Vincent, 8/ S.Brown/Gray, 9/ J.Brown/de Laat,
10/ Weinmann/Weinmann.
Last Chance – It was something of a shock to find the defending champion in Last Chance, but he was in good company lining up against the Leferink brothers. There were eighteen teams in total fighting for six places and the line-up was a rich one. They all had thirty minutes to find the fastest time with a real chance of going home empty-handed. Marvin made no mistake this time but like Tim and Sem Leferink, he and Glenn would be joining four other big names on the back row for the GP races tomorrow.
Result – 1/ Vanluchene, 2/ Leferink, 3/ Van de Lagemaat, 4/ Peter,
5/ Wisselink, 6/ Zwanepol.
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
