The crowd had swelled enormously at Cusses Gorse for race-day of Round 11 of the FIM World Sidecarcross Championship, with the British Grand Prix already being hailed as a success. The track had performed perfectly during qualifying despite many stones coming to the surface.
The ambient temperature was noticeably cooler for warm-up, with a strong wind and spots of rain. Bad weather was on its way, but would it hold off?
Many old faces from bygone years came up and approached me, with good feed-back for our efforts on the TV show. That was a really nice experience and much appreciated. The official’s and rider’s presentation was very well attended despite the wet weather. The planned autograph session as a result, was relocated in the refreshment tent. Once the formalities were done and dusted, it was time to go racing. The organisation of the event was superb, and a real party atmosphere made the day totally enjoyable even before racing began.
Race One – The rain had largely blown through as the sidecars came to the line. An earlier quad race had sorted the track and down went the gate.
The slippery first turn was enthralling but Hermans, Bax and Vanluchene were vying for the lead with Vanluchene getting the verdict to lead lap one.
Brett Wilkinson was in the mix round the turn, but then it all went wrong on the exit, dropping him to last place. He started the fight back immediately as the front three cleared off from the Lielbardis boys, no strangers to slippery conditions in their native Latvia. Back came the rain with a vengeance as Heinzer/Betschart sat fifth ahead of Van Werven/de Veene. Stuart Brown and Nathan Cooper were strong, and on lap four had moved to sixth behind Heinzer. Lap four, and Vanluchene still led Bax, with Hermans now out of it with a broken gearbox shaft, and then a tangle as Lielbardis ran into the stationary outfit. Wilkinson was now pressing hard and passed Stuart Brown into fifth place, hunting down Heinzer and Betschart. The British fans urged Wilkinson on, as he now had Heinzer in his sights with six laps completed.
At the front, Vanluchene was lapping one second faster than Bax, having opened a twelve second gap from the defending champions.
Justin Keuben and Jake Brown were both on the move, climbing to seventh and eighth places respectively behind Stuart Brown, Wilkinson, and Heinzer.
The Swiss pair were looking very good behind the Latvian twins who were in a safe third place. They had problems though, because Wilkinson/Millard were closing fast with three laps left to do.
Vanluchene was still eleven seconds clear jumping the table-top at the finish line every lap, with Bax/Cermak having no reply for the Belgian/French duo. The fight between Wilkinson and Heinzer now looked to be going one way as Brett homed in. Still Heinzer held on, with yet another lap completed in fourth.
Jake Brown nailed Keuben to go seventh behind his father Stuart, and then moved one place more as he overtook the veteran.
Vanluchene cemented his victory going into the final lap eleven seconds clear of Bax/Cermak. The Lielbardis twins had a magnificent third and Heinzer held on for a fantastic fourth place and great points ahead of Wilkinson/Millard.
Hermans retirement had severely dented his title hopes, so he would now have to rally for race two.
Race Two – Etienne Bax and Ondrej Cermak hit the front when Justin Keuben slid wide into turn one chased by Tim Prummer/Rodolphe Lebreton and Koen Hermans. Sadly, the AMS of Hermans expired in a cloud of smoke on the opening lap and his race was run. Vanluchene/Musset were sixth, recovering to fourth behind Prummer and were flying. Then dramatically, Vanluchene stalled the engine on lap three and was eighth next time around. Wilkinson was absolutely charging and moments after moving into second place, crashed out in a big way. Their chance to capitalise on Herman’s retirement was gone. Jake Brown/Josh Chamberlain were also on it in a big way and up to third place on lap five, having passed Keuben/Rietman.
This was an action-packed race with Bax now twenty-six seconds clear of Vanluchene who was now back in second place and jumping for joy.
This was shaping up to be a repeat of last week when race two victory gave Bax/Cermak the overall win. Prummer/Lebreton were still fifth behind Keuben and close enough to make a pass. The Latvian twins Lielbardis were climbing all over Prummer aiming for fourth place and Keuben. Ten laps gone and Bax was in superb form at the front ahead of Vanluchene/Musset who had come together with Wilkinson/Millard before their crash. Lielbardis and Heinzer both made their way past Prummer/Lebreton as the German slipped back. Two laps left, and Bax had this sorted, barring mechanical problems, on target for overall victory. It was a valiant fight by Vanluchene, but a bridge too far for the red plate holders.
Dan Foden/Ryan Humprey were now in eighth, but Prummer was a bit too far up the road for comfort.
Report by Barry Nutley – Images courtesy of WSC