Strassbessenbach race day arrived with temperatures already rising, and it turned out to be hotter than the qualifying day. The ground was bone hard from the long spell of dry weather, with the track hardly showing signs of wear. The result was fast racing, with overtaking difficult. A good crowd was in attendance with the usual air-horns and banners present.
Morning warm-up was a good indicator of how things might pan out, but undeniably fast were Justin Keuben and Dion Rietman. They knew they would have to push from a back row start, and as it turned out, push they did. The Prunier brothers and Koen Hermans were also lively, with Tim Prummer and the Lielbardis boys also showing strongly.
Race One – From the gate, the Latvian twins made no mistake, taking the hole-shot, with the Leferinks, Brett Wilkinson/Joe Millard, Benny Weiss/Patrick Schneider and the Prunier brothers right with them. Shortly after, an inspired Wilkinson went to second place, but it was short-lived. He seemed to lose pace on a turn, and that was it. Two nailed him in quick succession.
Keuben/Rietman, from row two, did what they could up the start straight, but then methodically worked all race to gain a respectable position.
Hermans did not get the best of starts, but he had the speed, and made his way through to fourth place passing Tim Prummer, Weiss and Wilkinson in the process. Weiss/Schneider had a moment out of sight of my position, but coincidentally Keuben’s rapid progress was interrupted at the same time.
The Prunier brothers were by now making hard work of the fight at the front, losing out to Tim and Sem Leferink, and almost giving way to Hermans/van den Bogaart. They hung on to claim third, without realising just how important those points were to become. The same is true of Brett Wilkinson who dropped to sixth place, appearing to tire. The heat took its toll, but the racing was fantastic. Towards the end, we almost had a four-way scrap at the front with the Lielbardis boys being hunted down by the Leferink brothers. Keuben made it to fifth place, a remarkable feat of endurance.
Result – 1/ Lielbardis/Lielbardis. 2/ Leferink/Leferink, 3/ Prunier/Prunier,
4/ Hermans/van den Bogaart, 5/ Keuben/Rietman, 6/ Wilkinson/Millard,
7/ Weiss/Schneider, 8/ Prummer/Steegmans, 9/ Wijers/van Hal,
10/ Hodges/Henderson.
Race Two – This one was even more riveting as Killian and Evan Prunier got to the corner first, chased by Tim Prummer and Jarno Steegmans. Brett Wilkinson Joe Millard slotted into fourth, with Koen Hermans/Ben van den Bogaart third. Hermans meant business this time and was gearing up to attack Prummer at every opportunity. Tim and Sem Leferink, along with Weiss/Schneider, were there as well. The Austrians slipped back slightly, although they bettered their earlier result by one position.
The Leferinks on the other hand, had overtaken the Lielbardis twins, and made good headway to eventually finish fifth. Hermans speed was impressive, then suddenly he was looking down at his left side at what turned out to be a damaged gear lever. He headed for pit-lane, re-joining in twenty-fifth place. Then the chase was on, with Hermans speed obvious as he carved through the lower order to a tenth-place finish.
Apart from Killian and Evan Prunier’s dominance at the front, stretching the gap from Tim Prummer to ten seconds, another major story of the race was Keuben’s remarkable fight from last place round the first turn, to claim fourth at the flag, catching and passing teams hand over fist on the way.
The French brothers though, had the track to themselves at the front which is the way they like to ride.
Wilkinson and Millard had yet another stellar ride, keeping their hopes alive as they and the Pruniers closed on Hermans at the front of the standings.
The red plate was looking less secure at the chequered flag, with Killian and Evan Prunier climbing to the top step of the podium.
Strassbessenbach lived up to its reputation, providing thrilling and unpredictable racing once again.
Result – 1/ Prunier/Prunier, 2/ Prummer/Steegmans, 3/ Wilkinson/Millard,
4/ Keuben/Rietman, 5/ Leferink/Leferink, 6/ Lielbardis/Lielbardis,
7/ Weiss/Schneider, 8/ Hodges/Henderson, 9/ Sanders/Vincent,
10/ Hermans/van den Bogaart.
Overall Result – 1/ Prunier, 2/ Lielbardis, 3/ Leferink
Full standings will be available on the WSC website, so keep up with the news and action as it happens here on www.fimsidecarcross.com and all our social media platforms.
From Barry Nutley.
