The sun was out again for race day, although there was a threat of some rain later in the proceedings. With no real sidecar cross culture in Poland, the crowds were slow to build, but that would not affect the racing, and we were treated to yet another terrific day of racing. Warm-up kicked off precisely at 9am as scheduled, with the track in perfect condition once again.
As always, the warm-up session gave us exactly that, bearing no resemblance to what we can expect when the gate drops. It is purely for the teams to assess how the track might have changed, or to explore new lines. Only towards the end of the session do they try a quick lap. That proved to be the case, with Vanluchene, Prunier and Prummer all within one and a half seconds of each other, with Marvin topping out at the end of the session with a 1.45.420 lap. Next up was Adrian Peter, maintaining his recent good form with a 1.27.435. Twenty-two teams took part, so we now had a respectable number of starters for the two races.
Race One –
A flying start by Marvin Vanluchene and Ben van den Bogaart took them across the front of Killian/Evan Prunier and into the lead chased by Tim Prummer/Patrick Schneider and the Leferinks. Koen Hermans had a better start and battled with the Prunier brothers for position on the opening lap. Brett Wilkinson/Joe Millard were not in the lead group so had to dig in and fight.
The leading three outfits were a challenge for Prunier, and he stuck to the task, passing first the Leferinks, and then eventually Prummer/Schneider.
It took him several attempts to achieve that feat, by which time Marvin was away with a six second lead. On this track, with everyone lapping at high speed, catching someone is difficult, with passing even more so.
Then, around half-distance, an almighty crash on a downhill jump took out the Leferinks, promoting Koen Hermans to fourth and Wilkinson/Millard to fifth. By this time there was a spirited fight going on between Stephan Wijers, Adrian Peter and Julian Veldman, resulting in Veldman claiming sixth place behind Wilkinson.
Prunier closed to within four seconds of Marvin at the flag, but twenty-five points went Marvin’s way, with Prunier sacrificing three to him.
It is hard to see anyone matching the speed of Vanluchene and Prunier on this track, but if any of the other fast teams can make the start count, then who knows?
Result –
1/Vanluchene/van den Bogaart, 2/Prunier/Prunier, 3/Prummer/Schneider, 4/Hermans/Rietman, 5/Wilkinson/Millard, 6/Veldman/Lebreton, 7/Wijers/Hoffmann, 8/Sanders/Vincent,
9/Grondman/Vincent, 10/Hengster/Blume.
Race Two –
Clouds had gathered with a few spots of rain in the air just before the start, but it came to nothing. Before long, the sun was out again and the track ready to go.
The gate dropped with the twenty-two outfits streaming to the first right-hander. Prunier made no mistake this time grabbing the lead into turn one from Davy Sanders and Koen Hermans with an amazing start by Patrick Hengster/Justin Blume snatching third place. Behind these front crews chaos reigned at the corner with a good number of teams tangled up, and Marvin Vanluchene/Ben van den Bogaart turning over. The Leferinks, Brett Wilkinson/Joe Millard and Tim Prummer were also caught up in the mess. While they sorted themselves out, the front three galloped away with Hengster giving a good account of himself ahead of the chasing bunch.
Marvin got going again after Ben had straightened the clutch lever and they gave chase from almost last place.
Hengster/Blume gradually slipped back as the faster teams made it through the pack, but Prunier had a clear track and was not going to waste this opportunity.
Then dramatically, Marvin Vanluchene, after making great inroads on the pack, pulled up at the foot of a jump on lap nine with Ben indicating something amiss with the exhaust silencer. They got going again, as the battle at the front raged with Davy Sanders holding off Hermans lap after lap. Then, on lap twelve, Hermans was gone with a collapsed rear shock. The drama just kept on coming, but Prummer, Wilkinson and the Leferinks made good progress to the end, fighting into the big points.
Just as the flag fell, the rain arrived with a vengeance, but the business of the day was already complete.
Result –
1/Prunier/Prunier, 2/Sanders/Vincent, 3/Prummer/Schneider, 4/Leferink/Leferink, 5/Wilkinson/Millard, 6/Veldman/Lebreton, 7/Peter/Zimmermann, 8/Grondman/Vincent, 9/van de Lagemaat/van Hal, 10/Chanteloup/Chanteloup.
Overall Result GP –
1/Prunier, 2/Prummer, 3/Sanders.
The highlights show, with interviews, features and all the other excitement will be available shortly on FIM-MOTO.TV
Full standings, results, features and latest news items are available on www.fimsidecarcross.com along with all our social media outlets.
Round Six comes from Karksi Nuia in Estonia next weekend 13-14 June with everything to play for at the half-way stage. Join us there in person, or courtesy of Live Stream on FIM-MOTO.TV
From Barry Nutley
