Bright sunshine with a mixture of cloud greeted the paddock for race-day. It was decidedly cooler which was not a bad thing for the teams. The crowd was already building, with Latvian and Estonian flags prominent among the spectators. There would be strong vocal support for the Lielbardis twins, and that would certainly do them no harm.
Morning warm got underway bright and early on a track which had seen frantic overnight grading and surface work. The result was fast times from the outset, with the local heroes, last year’s winners, setting a 2.00.573 lap.
Vanluchene/van den Bogaart were half a second slower, with the Leferinks, Pruniers, Prummer/Schneider and Sanders/Vincent all within five seconds.
The two British crews, Wilkinson and Foden were neck and neck some six and seven seconds off the Lielbardis lap. This track possibly did the left-handed sidecars no favours. Late in the session, Brett found another second to go eighth fastest.
After the customary riders and officials’ presentation, all of which built the hype, it was time to go racing, with the Quad World Championship runners setting the scene, taking to the track first.
Race One –
A very rapid start by the Leferinks took them into a good lead from the gate chased by Prummer/Schneider and the Prunier brothers, with Vanluchene fourth and the Lielbardis boys a bit further back.
The early stages of the race were interesting, and no-one could have foreseen the drama coming towards the end. Initially, Vanluchene/van den Bogaart made it past Prunier to third, but quite soon after, fell to an attack by Lielbardis. The young Latvians were going like a train, urged on by the partisan crowd. At the front, Tim and Sem Leferink looked very safe and sure of their position with a five second lead at one point, but it was not to be forever.
Further back, Grondman/Vincent were involved with Wilkinson/Millard, who had made their way past Dan Foden/Noah Weinmann. This was to be a valuable move for Wilkinson, as he was eventually to finish fifth.
Vanluchene seemed to have no answer for Prummer who looked safe in second place until Lielbardis shot past him and then nailed the Leferinks when Tim Leferink made a mistake on a right-handed bend.
The track was cutting up badly in places, and that was borne out when with six minutes remaining, the Leferinks got stuck in deep sand and Tim Prummer became entangled with them. It seemed like an age for both teams as both Vanluchene and Prunier capitalised to move through.
Shortly after, Prunier, who must have considered himself fortunate up to that point, crashed with the Chanteloup brothers on a climb with two laps to go, from which he could not easily recover. He lost several places, but managed to salvage sixth, against Vanluchene’s runner-up spot, thereby losing more points to the series leaders. By now, the local heroes were away in the lead, taking an impressive victory in the opening race.
Result –
1/Lielbardis/Lielbardis, 2/Vanluchene/van den Bogaart, 3/Prummer/Schneider, 4/Grondman/Vincent, 5/Wilkinson/Millard, 6/Prunier/Prunier, 7/Leferink/Leferink, 8/Foden/Weinmann, 9/Wijers/van Hal, 10/Sanders/Vincent.
Race Two –
Race one was a hard act to follow, but in this sport, nothing is a given. It was all to play for again as the gate dropped and thirty hopefuls charged to the first turn. Team Leferink got the holeshot chased by Prummer/Schneider and the Prunier brothers., but rounding turn two, Marvin and Ben slid underneath to grab a lead they extended lap after lap. Given the clear track, they could ride their own race. That they did, but behind them was a different matter entirely. The Leferink brothers were locked in a battle with Prummer and Prunier, with Koen Grondman/Ross Vincent also very much at the forefront. The Lielbardis twins had an appalling start, giving them a fight-back to remember (or as it turned out – forget).
The race settled into a massive fight between these teams at the front, all chasing Vanluchene vainly. Further back, Brett Wilkinson/Joe Millard were scrapping with Dan Foden/Noah Weinmann in the early stages, but broke free to become involved at the sharp end.
Tim Prummer made a mistake on a right-hand drop, locking out the back wheel and stalling the engine. This almost put Patrick over the handrail, but it allowed Prunier to get by for a short while. They were all chasing Grondman, who was doing a great job. Prummer recovered, but he had to work all over again on Prunier and then Grondman. He should have looked behind, because Brett Wilkinson was coming, and fast.
The Lielbardis boys were storming through and were right on the back of the Prummer, Wilkinson, Grondman and Prunier battle. They had been around fourteenth on lap one, and were now knocking on the door of fifth towards the end of the race, with second place a distinct possibility. That would have given them the overall win, but it was not to be. On the point of claiming two places, they suddenly stopped with what appeared to be the rear drive chain off. Almost at the same time, the Leferink brothers went through the ropes and were stuck, so their promising weekend was over once more.
All this drama resulted in Tim Prummer/Patrick Schneider and Brett Wilkinson/Joe Millard joining a jubilant Marvin and Ben on the podium.
The Prunier boys again rode for damage limitation and still hold a good second spot in the standings with six races remaining.
Result –
1/Vanluchene/van den Bogaart, 2/Prummer/Schneider, 3/Wilkinson/Millard, 4/Grondman/Vincent, 5/Prunier/Prunier, 6/Foden/Weinmann, 7/Leferink/Leferink, 8/Sanders/Vincent,
9/Wijers/van Hal, 10/Willemsen/Hoffmann
Overall Result GP –
1/Vanluchene, 2/Prummer, 3/Wilkinson
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 Ten is next week 1-2 August and takes place from a new venue in Anyksciai Lithuania. It is an open book for all the teams, and we are excited to be visiting another Baltic nation. Join us there in person, or courtesy of Live Stream on FIM-MOTO.TV
From Barry Nutley
