Group A pre-qualifying performances would certainly suggest that the red-plate holders of Hermans / van den Bogaart, and home heroes Daniels and Bruno Lielbardis had the pace, as they were the quickest couple of teams in the pre-qualifying events. Meanwhile, in group B, Keuben / Rietman would have a slim advantage over the Prunier brothers by the conclusion of the session, with high expectations of a closely fought, action-packed weekend.
Qualifying Race A
A superb start saw Sanders / Vincent take the holeshot ahead of championship leaders Hermans / vd Bogaart, with the Lielbardis twins following suit, undoubtedly looking to impress in front of their home crowd.
Their lead was to be short-lived however, as Hermans / vd Bogaart used the option line to promote themselves to the front of the race and take control within the opening lap. They would look to extend their advantage as on the following laps, Sanders / Vincent would take the outside option line, with the LIelbardis’ taking the inside, and it worked for the Latvian twins as they relegated the holeshot duo to third. Wilkinson / Millard were playing chase, too, fresh after their British championship victory; they would find themselves in the top-five within the first couple of laps and hound van der Lagemaat / Musset for fourth position.
Wilkinson / Millard would not waste time in finding a way through on van der Lagemaat / Musset, to promote themselves into fourth position and would not stop there, by picking off their opposition one-by-one with the following laps. At the mid-point of the race, bad luck would strike once again for Hermans / van den Bogaart as the rear shock absorber spindle broke, and this would force them to retire from the race and hand over the lead of the race to the Lielbardis twins, much to the delight of the home crowd.
This retirement would also prove to be beneficial to the British crew as this would give them more qualifying points for their title campaign, with the red-plate holders scoring nothing on this occasion. Daniels and Bruno Lielbardis would not relinquish the race lead from this point onwards, and it was very safe to say that this was a shared victory as they were willed on every step of the way by their adoring home fans. Despite the efforts of Wilkinson / Millard, closing the gap to within five second by the final lap, it would prove to not be quite enough as the flag beckoned the arrival of Daniels and Bruno Lielbardis. Brett Wilkinson and Joe Millard would come home in second position, with a brilliant ride from Davy Sanders and Jens Vincent seeing them complete the podium positions.
Results
- Lielbardis / Lielbardis
- Wilkinson / Millard
- Sanders / Vincent
- Van der Lagemaat / Musset
- Hodges / Henderson
Qualifying Race B
A lightning start from Keuben / Rietman would see them take the initial advantage with the holeshot, with Wijers / van Hal snatching second away from the Leferink brothers, but this would not last long as almost immediately, Tim and Sem would retaliate and reclaim the second-place position away from the #418 crew, with Brown / Booth defending fourth position from the Prunier brothers. Likewise with the fight for second, the Prunier pairing would squeeze through and claim fourth position in their hopes for an ideal gate pick in the Grand Prix races on Sunday.
They would continue their fast form, promoting themselves into third position by the halfway stage in the race, which is a position they would hold on to until the closing moments when they were coming under increasing pressure from Wijers / van Hal, with both crews almost becoming a victim of the deep terrain on the outside of the right-hand turn.
Gordejev / Lebreton were putting on a good show, holding firm in sixth position through the majority of the race, and this would be a position they would not lose throughout the course of the event with plenty of clear track both, in front, and behind – they knew they were secure in this position.
Similarly to group A with Wilkinson / Millard, Tim and Sem Leferink were closing the gap to race-long leaders Keuben / Rietman, but it would prove to be a too much of a gap to bridge by the race end. The same could not be said about the fight for the final podium position as Wijers / van Hal would sneak through and prize third position from the clenched fist of Killian and Evan Prunier, with less than two laps to go!
The cheqeured flag waved and the #7 crew of Keuben / Rietman would lay claim to group B honours, ahead of Leferink / Leferink with Wijers / van Hal completing the podium finishers, to give themselves a better gate pick for the GP races.
Results
- Keuben / Rietman
- Leferink / Leferink
- Wijers / van Hal
- Prunier / Prunier
- Brown / Booth
By Bradley Hix
