Europe has been roasting in incredible summer temperatures, and Lommel was right in the thick of it. Friday had sweltered in thirty-plus heat, although Saturday was marginally cooler but not much. There was no cloud cover, but always a possibility of thunderstorms.
The track, as ever, was well prepared, and every single sidecar team member was preparing themself mentally for what they knew was going to be a tough challenge. The Lommel facility is well appointed with good administration buildings and a superb VIP elevated viewing gallery overlooking most of the track. Once free practice was over, it was time for the serious business of the day. Saturday is all about qualifying and grid position, and that would be vital. With just thirty teams entered, there would be no “Last Chance Qualifier” needed.
Pre-Qualifying Group “A” –
The thirty-minute session got underway with Daniel and Bruno Lielbardis setting the bar high from the word go from Julian Veldman and Rodolphe Lebreton.
Davy Sanders/Jens Vincent and Koen Hermans/Dion Rietman looked very much at home in the deep stuff which had seen support sidecars earlier in the morning, and they both ran the leaders close.
Thom van de Lagemaat/Han van Hal stayed ahead of Daniel Willemsen, who in turn had Niels Hendrickx/Tayim Kaethoven for company.
Tim Prummer also showed well, testing new passenger Patrick Schneider’s sand riding skills to the limit. Lielbardis held his advantage throughout, thus giving himself a good gate choice for the Group “A” qualifying race in the afternoon. Red plate holders Killian and Evan Prunier, whether by design or misfortune, managed just one lap.
Pre-Qualifying Group “B” –
Marvin Vanluchene/Ben van den Bogaart made their ambitions abundantly clear by shooting to the top of the times early in the session. Their time of 1.40.7 was well over one second ahead of Leferink brothers Tim and Sem, with Koen Grondman/Ross Vincent half a second down on the Leferinks.
Brett Wilkinson/Joe Millard looked quite at home in the company of Stephan Wijers/Joel Hoffmann and Mulders/van Deutekom, both of whom are sand specialists. With five minutes of the session left, Wilkinson put the P-Power
four-stroke into fourth fastest spot.
Qualifying Race “A” –
Twenty minutes would be a stern test in the heat, but the experienced sand riders are used to these conditions and would be hard to beat. The Lielbardis twins also have sand tracks in Latvia and have shown their class on more than one occasion. The track maintenance crew had been busy and the water tanker in full flow. Marshals were under their umbrellas, and we were good to go, but were the teams?
Down went the gate and into an immediate lead shot the former hole shot king Tim Prummer. His starts have not been so good of late, but he redeemed himself this time out. Daniel Willemsen/Wessel Susebeek were neck and neck with Hermans/Rietman and the Lielbardis twins. The top three stretched a lead, as Davy Sanders retired having completed just one lap. The Prunier brothers had a shocking start, coming round out of the top ten after lap one. They knew they needed to dig deep, and in true champion’s style, they stuck at it. Bit by bit they crept up the field, claiming places as the others wilted in the heat, until they eventually nailed fifth place in the closing stages.
It was another remarkable race for Julian Veldman and Rodolphe Lebreton, fighting through on the 450 KTM into fourth place. They were too far down on Lielbardis to go further, as the Latvians were focussed on Hermans. The defending champion held second place, within three seconds of Prummer at the flag. The top five collected points, and every point counts as we all know.
Result – 1/ Tim Prummer/Patrick Schneider, 2/Koen Hermans/Dion Rietman, 3/Daniel Lielbardis/Bruno Lielbardis, 4/Julian Veldman/Rodolphe Lebreton, 5/Killian Prunier/Evan Prunier,
6/Daniel Willemsen/Wessel Susebeek, 7/Mike Hodges/Ryan Henderson, 8/Thom van de Lagemaat/Han van Hal, 9/Ijen Kops/Robin Konst, 10/Niels Hendrickx/Tayim Kaethoven
Qualifying Race “B” -
Marvin made no mistake from the gate, starting hard on the left of the grid, throwing a look over his shoulder to make sure it was clear to turn in, as he took a magnificent lead. He was chased hard by Tim and Sem Leferink, Stephan Wijers/Joel Hoffmann and Wilkinson/Millard.
These were all class sand riding teams, but Marvin and Ben were in class of their own as they set a lap time over one second faster that the Leferinks on lap two.
Koen Grondman/Ross Vincent had a shocker, fourteenth on the opening lap, they plugged away, showing what they can do in the sand to an eventual fine third place. This was after the leading quintet of Vanluchene, Leferink, Wijers,
Wilkinson and Grondman were suddenly without two of the members. First Wilkinson, and then Leferink went missing. This left Grondman to claim third, Frank Mulders fourth, and George Kinge/Liam Hodges a fine fifth place. Credit where credit’s due – this was a tough set of conditions, and to finish was a feat, let alone in the style of Marvin Vanluchene and Ben van den Bogaart.
The dynamic duo claimed the red plate by one solitary point on this qualifying result alone.
Result – 1/Marvin Vanluchene/Ben van den Bogaart, 2/Stephan Wijers/Joel Hoffmann, 3/Koen Grondman/Ross Vincent, 4/Frank Mulders/Marc van Deutekom, 5/ George Kinge/Liam Hodges,
6/Adrian Peter/Julian Zimmerman, 7/Romaric/Josselyn Chanteloup, 8/Jack Rodgers/Ryan Beavis, 9/Sam Osbaldiston/Thomas Mackay, 10/Tim/Sem Leferink.
Two Grand Prix races take place tomorrow, with the Live stream available for both races and the awards ceremony. Hopefully, the weather will be less punishing, but don’t hold your breath.
The highlights show, with interviews, features and all the excitement will also be available shortly on FIM-MOTO.TV
All final standings and latest news items are available on www.fimsidecarcross.com along with all our social media outlets.
From Barry Nutley
