2026 SidecarCross World Championship, Lommel: Vanluchene/Bogaart take the championship lead

Hardly anyone would have bet that Killian and Evan Prunier would still be leading the World Championship standings after the Belgian Grand Prix – not even the French brothers themselves. As is well known, sandy tracks are not their favourite terrain. In contrast, Marvin Vanluchene and Ben van den Bogaart feel right at home on such tracks. Accordingly, they secured the maximum number of points in Lommel with a commanding performance.

In high summer temperatures, Tim Prümmer and Patrick Schneider took the lead right from the start in Saturday’s Qualifying Race A. Koen Hermans and Dion Rietman finished second ahead of Daniels and Bruno Lielbardis, whilst the Pruniers still managed fifth place despite earlier engine problems and the resulting unfavourable starting position. Vanluchene and van den Bogaart won Qualifying Race B, thereby taking the lead in the championship standings. Stephan Wijers and Joel Hoffmann finished second, ahead of Koen Grondman and Ross Vincent. Adrian Peter and Julian Zimmermann crossed the finish line in sixth place, Tim and Sem Leferink – with a broken sprocket – in tenth, and Brett Wilkinson and Joe Millard – hampered by electrical problems – in twelfth.

At two o’clock in the morning, the teams were startled by a violent thunderstorm with strong gusts of wind. Awnings and other items were whirled about the paddock. The rain also soaked the track, making the deep sand even heavier. By the time the afternoon races got underway, however, the track was back to its usual self – with deep ruts and treacherous holes.

The first race was won by veteran Daniel Willemsen, this time with his compatriot Wessel Susebeek in the sidecar. But it didn’t take long for Vanluchene/van den Bogaart to take the lead and pull away – leaving their pursuers Lielbardis/Lielbardis and Prümmer/Schneider unable to catch them. Prümmer had been unable to capitalise fully on his brilliant qualifying result and initially had to settle for sixth place going into the first corner. The Pruniers, on the other hand, were unable to fight their way up the field and had to let the Leferinks and Wilkinson/Millard take the lead.

As the race progressed, Vanluchene/van den Bogaarts lapped all the teams down to ninth place, where Wijers/Hoffmann were ploughing through the deep sand. This group also included the world champion Koen Hermans, who looked rather pale, as well as Davy Sanders/Jens Vincent. The Belgian-Dutch duo had to start from the back of the grid after their qualifying session ended as early as the second lap due to a flat rear tyre. In the first race, the fifth-placed rider in the World Championship got bogged down but ultimately managed to salvage sixteenth place.

Peter/Zimmermann did not compete in the championship races. Rider Adrian was once again struggling with back problems following Saturday’s races. And as German Championship rounds are taking place on the next two Saturdays (!) in Schwedt (4 July) and Aichwald (11 July), the championship leader understandably did not want to take any risks in the title race.

The second race was once again won by the new championship leaders, Prümmer/Schneider, with Hermans/Rietman and the Lielbardis twins in their slipstream. And once again, Vanluchene/van den Bogaart soon pulled away from the chasing pack. Prümmer, on the other hand, had to let the Latvians – who were faster for a while – as well as Julian Veldman/Rodolphe Lebreton and the Leferinks pull away. “I just couldn’t find a good rhythm in the second race, which is why we lost places. In the end, we managed to make up some ground again,” Prümmer noted. But it wasn’t enough to mount an attack. The World Championship bronze medallists crossed the finish line 1.3 seconds behind Veldman and 0.7 seconds behind Leferink. Nevertheless, they were able to consolidate their third place in the World Championship standings because their closest rivals lost more points.

Whilst Wilkinson/Millard were able to make up ground with a spirited start, the Pruniers once again stagnated in mid-field and Hermans fell back after his good start. Sanders also lost further points in the battle for a top-five finish. In contrast, world champion’s son Niels Hendrickx and co-driver Tayim Kaethoven once again shone with a twelfth-place finish.

In three weeks’ time, the World Championship circus will be visiting Straßbessenbach. On the hard track, the cards will be reshuffled for the top teams. Furthermore, all the local sidecar teams who had absolutely no desire to tackle the dunes of Lommel are likely to be in attendance there. Info: msc-strassbessenbach.de.

Results: Motocross Sidecar World Championship, Lommel/B:

Round 1: 1 . Vanluchene/van den Bogaart (B/NL), VMC-Zabel. 2. D. Lielbardis/B. Lielbardis (LV), WSP-Mega. 3. Prümmer/Schneider (D/A), VMC-AMS. 4. J. Veldman/Lebreton (NL/F), CPD-KTM. 5. K. Grondman/R. Vincent (NL), VMC-Zabel. 6. T. Leferink/S. Leferink (NL), VMC-KTM. 7. Wilkinson/J. Millard (GB), WSP-Husqvarna. 8. K. Prunier/E. Prunier (F), WSP-KTM. 9. Wijers/Hoffmann (NL/D), VMC-Zabel. 10. Hermans/Rietman (NL), WSP-Mega. 11. T. van der Lagemaat/van Hal (NL), VMC-Zabel. 12. N. Hendrickx/Kaethoven (B), VMC-Mega. 13. D. Willemsen/Susebeek (NL), WSP-KTM. 14. B. van den Heuij/S. van den Heuij (NL), EML-Mega. 15. Hotze/Debruyne (NL/B), WSP-Husqvarna. 16. Sanders/J. Vincent (B/NL), WSP-Mega. 17. Banks/Pannell (GB), VMC-Zabel. 18. Hodges/Henderson (GB), WSP-Husqvarna. 19. Rogers/Beavis (GB), VMC-KTM. 20. R. Chanteloup/J. Chanteloup (F), WSP-KTM. 29. Peter/Zimmermann (D), VMC-Husqvarna.

Race 2: 1. Vanluchene. 2. Lielbardis. 3. Veldman. 4. Leferink. 5. Prümmer. 6. Grondman. 7. Wilkinson. 8. Prunier. 9. Wijers. 10. Van de Lagemaat. 11. Willemsen. 12. Hendrickx. 13. Sanders. 14. I. Kops/Koenst (NL), WSP-Husqvarna. 15. Mulders/M. van Deutekom (NL), WSP-Zabel. 16. Van den Heuij. 17. Hermans. 18. Rogers. 19. G. Kinge/L. Hodges (GB), WSP-KTM. 20. Hodges. 28. Peter.

World Championship standings after 14 of 24 races:

1. Vanluchene 328 points. 2. Prunier 303. 3. Prümmer 270. 4. Wilkinson 248. 5. Sanders 191. 6. Leferink 190. 7. Hermans 174. 8. Lielbardis 163. 9. Grondman 152. 10. Foden 147. 11. Wijers 142. 15. Peter 85. 17. Hengster 52. 26. Heinzer 20. 29. Uhlig 17. 34. Hofmann 10. 39. Buob 6.