2026 SidecarCross World Championship, Anyksciai: Double victory for Vanluchene/van den Bogaart

For all contenders for the top places in the World Championship, the Mickunai MX Parkas motocross track near the small Lithuanian town of Anyksciai was uncharted territory. The track, which was partly sandy and partly hard-packed, certainly had its pitfalls and posed a real challenge to the riders. Unfortunately, there were some serious crashes.

And yet the race weekend had got off to a promising start. In Qualifying Race A, Marvin Vanluchene and Ben van den Bogaart won ahead of Tim and Sem Leferink. Dan Foden and Noah Weinmann crossed the finish line in third place following a thrilling duel with Tim Prümmer and Patrick Schneider. Daniel Willemsen and Joel Hoffmann followed in eighth place. In Group B, Julian Veldman and Rodolphe Lebreton managed to keep their pursuers – Davy Sanders and Jens Vincent, as well as Killian and Evan Prunier – at bay.

Nick Uhlig and Philipp Oettel were understandably dissatisfied with their tenth-place finish and the resulting second-row start. World champion Koen Hermans, with Dion Rietman as his co-driver, was forced to retire after two laps as he was still struggling with the after-effects of a crash from the previous weekend. Following Sunday’s warm-up, Willemsen and Hoffmann also decided not to start in the races. The team was feeling under the weather due to an infection, and co-driver Hoffmann in particular was unable to see out the race heats.

At the start of the first race, Prümmer/Schneider initially surged into the lead heading for the first left-hand bend. However, Vanluchene/van den Bogaart had the better starting position and overtook on the inside, whilst the Prunier brothers got off to a delayed start. On the second lap, Prümmer made an over-eager attack on Foden, who was riding directly in front of him (in the words of Thomas Weinmann after the race), causing Noah Weinmann to be catapulted from the sidecar and end up underneath Prümmer’s sidecar. However, he was able to get back on his feet immediately and continue the race. The World Championship bronze medallist apologised to Weinmann junior straight after the race, which settled the matter.

Shortly afterwards, Brett Wilkinson and Joe Millard rolled their sidecar. As he was complaining of severe back pain, Wilkinson was taken to hospital as a precaution, but was soon discharged. As there was no longer an ambulance at the track, the race organisers abandoned the race.

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At the restart, Vanluchene and van den Bogaart retook the lead, this time ahead of the Leferinks and Veldman and Lebreton. In the melee, the Lielbardis twins, Niklas Hotze and Sander Roosileht, Grégory Raymond and Viktorija Vareikaite, and Stephan Wijers and Han van Hal all crashed. All teams were able to resume the race. Prümmer/Schneider were in third place for a while, but then had to let Foden/Weinmann and the Pruniers – who had got off to a better start this time – their main rivals, take the lead. “With the changing track conditions, I couldn’t find the suspension set-up that suited me best and I was also unable to communicate to the team what I needed,” the World Championship bronze medallist explained self-critically afterwards. Uhlig/Oettel did not take part in the races.

At the second start, Prümmer/Schneider initially took the lead ahead of Vanluchene/van den Bogaart, the Leferinks and Veldman Lebreton. In the scramble behind them, Foden’s sidecar team skidded sideways and then jackknifed in such a way that the crew were catapulted through the air. The Pruniers, riding behind them, just managed to stop their motorbike, which in turn put Daniels and Bruno Lielbardis in a tight spot. Noah Weinmann had to be taken to hospital with a suspected spinal injury. In the evening, the initial all-clear was given: apparently, ‘only’ one rib was broken and had pierced the lung.

Meanwhile, the championship leaders had overtaken Prümmer, who was once again struggling with his chassis, with Veldman/Lebreton, Leferink/Leferink and Sanders/Vincent following suit. In the end, however, the German-Austrian duo were once again left with nothing but sixth place. The Pruniers, who coped better with the demanding track and were only set back by Foden’s crash, managed to extend their lead in the World Championship standings slightly. The GP circuit is now on a break until the next race on the sandy track at Varsseveld. Let’s hope that defending champion Hermans, Brett Wilkinson and Noah Weinmann are fit again by then. Former world champion Daniel Willemsen intends to compete there once more alongside Joel Hoffmann.

This coming weekend, a national motocross event will take place in Oostrozebeke, in western Belgium. Tim Prümmer is set to compete there alongside none other than Henry van de Wiel. Together with Alois Wenninger, the Dutchman finished third in the World Championship in 1996, followed by the runners-up spot and fourth place in the World Championship in 1998. In his second career, he went on to win a total of six titles as a co-driver in the IMBA European Championship (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2018). Further information: mclb-vjmo.be

Results of the Motocross Sidecar World Championship, Anyksciai/LT:

Race 1: 1. Vanluchene/van den Bogaart (B/NL), VMC-Zabel. 2. T. Leferink/S. Leferink (NL), VMC-KTM. 3. J. Veldman/Lebreton (NL/F), SMT-KTM. 4. K. Prunier/E. Prunier (F), WSP-KTM. 5. Foden/N. Weinmann (GB/D), WSP-AMS. 6. Prümmer/Schneider (D/A), VMC-AMS. 7. D. Lielbardis/B. Lielbardis (LV), WSP-Mega. 8. Sanders/J. Vincent (B/NL), WSP-Mega. 9. K. Grondman/R. Vincent (NL), VMC-Zabel. 10. Wijers/van Hal (NL), VMC-Zabel. 11. DeCock/A. van de Wiel (B), VMC-Husqvarna. 12. Hotze/Roosileht (NL/EST), WSP-Husqvarna. 13. J. Pirtinas/Aleksejevs (LT/LV), WSP-Mega. 14. R. Rupeiks/Vahter (LV/EST), VMC-Zabel. 15. Raymond/Vareikaite (F/LT), VMC-KTM. 16. Reesna/Mäki (EST/FIN), WSP-Husqvarna. 17. Lubgans/Antons (LV), WSP-Husqvarna. 18. Z. Pirtinas/Zaliauskas (LT), WSP-Mega. 19. Poldsaar/Ruutli (EST), VMC-KTM. 20. Jensen/Petersen (DK), WSP-KTM.

Race 2: 1. Vanluchene. 2. Veldman. 3. Leferink. 4. Sanders. 5. Lielbardis. 6. Prümmer. 7. Wijers. 8. Prunier. 9. Grondman. 10. De Cock. 11. Raymond. 12. Rupeiks. 13. J. Pirtinas. 14. Hotze. 15. Lubgans. 16. Z. Pirtinas. 17. Poldsaar. 18. Jaunkauskas/Davidonis (LT), WSP-Mega. 19. Reesna. 20. Foden.

World Championship standings after 20 of 24 races:

1. Vanluchene 482 points. 2. Prunier 418. 3. Prümmer 401. 4. Wilkinson 320. 5. Leferink 313. 6. Lielbardis 239. 7. Grondman and Sanders, 225 each. 9. Foden 223. 10. Hermans 203. 15. Peter 100. 18. Hengster 69. 22. Heinzer 41. 29. Käser 27. 33. Hofmann and Uhlig 17 each. 39. Buob 9.