Caught using illegal fuel: Sanders/Vincent lose points from the Polish GP

Random fuel tests are also common practice in sidecar cross, with 100 octane being the limit. During the Grand Prix in Gdansk, Poland, fuel samples were taken from three teams. Whilst the fuel samples from Killian and Evan Prunier, as well as from Tim Prümmer and Patrick Schneider, proved to be within the limits, the sample from Davy Sanders and Jens Vincent did not comply with FIM regulations.

The Belgian-Dutch duo have now had their points from the fifth round of the World Championship stripped. This is a significant blow, as Sanders and Vincent had fought their way to eighth place in the first race and even second place in the second race. The loss of 35 points sees them slip from fifth to eighth place in the World Championship standings.

Prunier and Prümmer use four-stroke engines from KTM and AMS respectively, whilst Sanders prefers the Mega two-stroke. “We take great care to ensure we use fuel that complies with the regulations. That’s why we don’t use Aral Ultimate,” notes Gerd Blatter from Team Prümmer. The standard fuel used by the Bochum-based team is rated at 102 octane.

Among the quad riders, England’s Harry Walker (-18 points) and Poland’s Roman Gwiazda (-24 points) were disqualified.

World Championship standings after 14 of 24 rounds:

1. Vanluchene, 329 points. 2. Prunier 303. 3. Prümmer 272. 4. Wilkinson 250. 5. Leferink 193. 6. Hermans 175. 7. Lielbardis 163. 8. Sanders 156. 9. Grondman 154. 10. Foden 147. 11. Wijers 143. 15. Peter 87. 17. Hengster 54. 26. Heinzer 20. 29. Uhlig 17. 34. Hofmann 10. 39. Buob 6.