Race day morning at Round 8 of the 2024 FIM World Sidecarcross Championship, which took place at Strassbessenbach in Germany, was noticeably cooler that Saturday, a blessing for just about everyone, especially the teams. There were more clouds around, with a slight possibility of rain later in the day. With six races left before the season closer in Italy, this was a pivotal weekend, and early in the morning, more fans were arriving. Car parks were filling, and camping was already spilling over into neighbouring fields.
This track draws crowds from several large towns in the region, with Frankfurt itself not far away. Added to that, many Belgian and Dutch fans had come to this one in numbers, as well as the hordes of Latvian Lielbardis supporters.
The track was in perfect condition for morning warm-up, having been graded and even rolled in parts ahead of the two Grand Prix races.
Benny Weiss and Patrick Schneider mirrored their speed of yesterday, getting into the 1.56’s, with Davy Sanders and Jens Vincent mixing it with the Prunier brothers next up
Race One – The moment everyone had been waiting for had arrived. The tension as the teams rolled through the tunnel on their way to the gate was palpable. It was as if the destiny of the title race lay right here in Germany at Strassbessenbach. For all we knew, that might well be the case.
Thirty teams across two rows set the scene. The revs rose, and the gate dropped with a mighty roar from the mixture of two and four stroke power.
Up the hill they charged. It was a frantic first turn, but the entire field came out of it following Tim and Sem Leferink. The eighteen and twenty-year-old brothers took control like seasoned professionals, leading Koen Hermans and Ben van den Bogaart, from Prummer/Lebreton, Brett Wilkinson/Joe Millard and Davy Sanders/Jens Vincent.
Stuart Brown/Lewis Gray were upended at the top of the hill and had to try to get back in the game. Neither Marvin Vanluchene/Glenn Janssens or the Lielbardis brothers had a particularly good start, and both those teams had to work for it too. Vanluchene/Janssens made headway faster, with the Prunier boys also needing to make up ground.
At the front though, the Leferink brothers were setting a gigantic pace, with Hermans unable to pass them despite trying several times on the downhill drop. This battle raged in the early stages, but then departed the scene on lap five with a mechanical problem.
Marvin was now on the move, with Tim Prummer the target, and several other fast crews homing in on the German/French pairing. Brett Wilkinson gradually slipped back, but still had a very strong finish.
Meanwhile, as Leferink’s KTM roared away at the front, a phenomenal scrap involving Prummer, Wilkinson, Lielbardis, Prunier, Sanders, Weiss and Stephan Wijers evolved lap after lap. This battle was the high point of the race with too many moves to remember.
Into the closing stages, Leferink’s win was no longer in doubt, but the remaining podium place was not finalised until the last lap, with the Prunier brothers holding off a Lielbardis attack, making it through to follow Vanluchene home. This was an even better race than we saw in Iffendic, with an enthusiastic crowd urging the teams on. Sem Leferink the victorious passenger, later collapsed with exhaustion, needing treatment by the medical authorities.
Result 1 – Results
1/ Leferink/Leferink, 2/ Vanluchene/Janssens, 3/ Prunier/Prunier, 4/ Lielbardis/Lielbardis, 5/ Weiss/Schneider, 6/ Prummer/Lebreton, 7/ Wilkinson/Millard, 8/ Sanders/Vincent, 9/ Wijers/Van Hal, 10/ Weinmann/Weinmann.
Race Two – 1/ A stunning start by Koen Hermans and Ben van den Bogaart took them into a narrow lead over Gert Gordejev and Sten Niitsoo and Brett Wilkinson/Joe Millard. This was an amazing show by the Estonians who really made life difficult for the chasing pack. Vanluchene/Janssens were right with them, and once Brett Wilkinson had dispatched Gordejev, he fell victim to Vanluchene charging through in pursuit of Hermans/van den Bogaart. These two teams opened a big lead in the early stages, with Marvin trying his luck on the downhill drops. But he is still nursing the thumb injury with a torn ligament, so those downhills were excruciating. Hermans was making up for his first race disappointment, and it showed.
The Prunier brothers had a misfire, Tim Prummer had a shocking start getting caught up mid-pack up the hill, and the Lielbardis twins were around fifth initially, finding it hard to overtake. As the race wore on, it became obvious Hermans had superior speed and barring breakdowns, was home and dry.
Behind Wilkinson in third, came a freight-train of Lielbardis, Sanders/Vincent, Tim Prummer and Gert van Werven. The Prunier brothers, at this stage, were not yet in touch, but the Zabel was now running well, and they were on a charge. It looked like Wilkinson would eventually be caught and passed, but he had other ideas this time.
Late in the race, Wilkinson broke away from Lielbardis, who was then in danger of being caught by Davy Sanders. That happened, and the Belgian then had Wilkinson in his sights. Brett held on for a great third, and third place on the overall podium behind the Prunier brothers and Vanluchene/Janssens.
Race 2 Result – 1/ Hermans/van den Bogaart, 2/ Vanluchene/Janssens, 3/ Wilkinson/Millard, 4/ Sanders/Vincent, 5/ Lielbardis/Lielbardis, 6/ Prunier/Prunier, 7/ van Werven/de Wiel, 8/ Weiss/Schneider, 9/ Wijers/Van Hal, 10/ Prummer/Lebreton
The next and penultimate round is from Rudersberg in Germany over the weekend of 14/15 September. Be sure to join us there or come with us on the live stream from wherever you might be.
Words by Barry Nutley – Images courtesy of WSC