SidecarCross World Championship, Straßbessenbach: Prümmer/Schneider win their first GP

Even Saturday’s qualifying round for the Grand Prix in Straßbessenbach looked promising. In Group A, Tim Prümmer and Patrick Schneider won ahead of the World Championship leaders Marvin Vanluchene and Ben van den Bogaart, as well as Daniels and Bruno Lielbardis. Remo and Luca Käser qualified directly in seventh place, whilst Sven and Marc Buob did so in twelfth. Killian and Evan Prunier dominated the Group B qualifier, ahead of Koen Hermans and Dion Rietman, and Julian Veldman and Rodolphe Lebreton. Marco and Remo Heinzer finished fifth, followed by Adrian Peter and Julian Zimmermann, Patrick Hengster and Justin Blume, and Dan Foden and Noah Weinmann.

Leon Hofmann, with Joel Hoffmann standing in for Leon Freygang, also secured direct entry into the main races by finishing tenth. Hoffmann’s previous co-driver, Stephan Wijers, had previously offered the Thuringian that he would only race with him on hard tracks and, for reasons unknown, would rely on his former co-driver, Han van Hal, for the sand tracks. Van Hal was available again following his split from Thom van de Lagemaat, but had already agreed to team up with Multmeister Daniel Willemsen for Straßbessenbach. As Joel Hoffmann was not happy with Wijers’ proposal, he turned Wijers down completely, leaving the latter high and dry for the German Grand Prix.

Jan Hoormann competed once again with his long-standing co-driver Andy Schlinnertz, after Boyd Verhees had ended his career midway through the season. However, the Belgian only intends to step in whilst Paul Kinder recovers from his injury. In Bessenbach, the duo had to take the detour via the Last Chance race to qualify. Pierre Seifert and his Belgian stand-in co-driver Jasey Vlot failed to clear this hurdle.

Race Sunday also offered ideal conditions, thanks to World Championship-standard track preparation and overnight rain. At the first start, Prümmer/Schneider edged out the Leferink and Prunier brothers even before the first corner. Vanluchene and van den Bogaart failed to build up sufficient momentum on the steep straight. Whilst the Pruniers managed to successfully attack the Leferinks as the race progressed, Prümmer and Schneider pulled away and cruised to an unchallenged victory.

Of the Swiss teams, Remo and Luca Käser put in a remarkable performance, crossing the finish line ahead of world champion Koen Hermans – who once again looked lacklustre – and his co-driver Dion Rietman, whilst also leaving the experienced duo of Brett Wilkinson/Joe Millard and Davy Sanders/Jens Vincent. Dan Foden/Noah Weinmann also got off to a good start, but, given the Englishman’s still-fresh hand fracture, avoided any close battles and managed to secure twelfth place on their comeback. As the second Swiss team, the occasional drivers Marco Heinzer and Martin Betschart finished in fourteenth place. Behind them, there was a three-way battle among the German teams, won by Hengster/Blume ahead of Hofmann/Hoffmann and Peter/Zimmermann. The Buobs and Hoormann/Schlinnertz missed out on the points.

At the second start, Vanluchene and van den Bogaart didn’t put a foot wrong and shot into the first corner ahead of Prümmer and Schneider. The Leferinks were once again in third place, whilst the Pruniers had to settle further back. They did at least manage to fight their way up to fourth place, but continued to lose ground to the World Championship leaders. The Lielbardis twins were initially in contention at the front, but then fell back due to a faulty rear suspension.

Things went better for Foden/Weinmann than in the first race; they were able to hold off the World Championship third-placed pair, Wilkinson/Millard, with relative ease. The Käsers improved to seventh place ahead of Heinzer/Betschart. Behind them, this time there was only a duel between German teams, which Hengster/Blume once again won against the new German champions. Hofmann/Hoffmann were unable to get in on the action. At the start, they were behind Hermans/Rietman, who accelerated a little too soon and were stopped by the starting gate, which hadn’t yet dropped. This makes it all the more impressive that the Hof(f)männer still managed to fight their way into the points. Hoormann/Schlinnertz, on the other hand, had no chance of securing World Championship points on the fast track after a poor start.

With first and second places, Tim Prümmer and Patrick Schneider secured their first overall Grand Prix victory and narrowed the gap to the Pruniers from 31 to 24 points. Of the four remaining Grands Prix, three will take place on sand tracks, which suit the German-Austrian pairing far better than the French. Vanluchene/van den Bogaart cope well in all conditions and are likely to be denied the title only by retirements.

The second round of the Baltic series gets underway as early as this coming weekend with the Grand Prix in Madona, Latvia. A week later, the action continues at Mickunai MX Park in Lithuania. Prümmer/Schneider will, of course, be competing there, and Foden/Weinmann are also keen not to miss either of the two races following their promising comeback. Joel Hoffmann will also be taking part: the two-time German co-driver runner-up couldn’t turn down the offer from multiple champion Daniel Willemsen to ride alongside him. Whether Peter/Zimmermann will make the long journey, however, is rather doubtful. This is because the reigning German champions have little chance of improving their position in the World Championship standings. The other German and Swiss teams are skipping these two Grands Prix anyway.

Results of the Motocross Sidecar World Championship, Straßbessenbach/Germany:

Race 1: 1. Prümmer/Schneider (D/A), VMC-AMS. 2. K. Prunier/E. Prunier (F), WSP-KTM. 3. T. Leferink/S. Leferink (NL), VMC-KTM. 4. Vanluchene/van den Bogaart (B/NL), VMC-Zabel. 5. Auvray/Steegmans (F/B), WSP-KTM. 6. J. Veldman/Lebreton (NL/F), CPD-KTM. 7. D. Lielbardis/B. Lielbardis (LV), WSP-Mega. 8. R. Käser/L. Käser (CH), VMC-KTM. 9. Hermans/Rietman (NL), WSP-Mega. 10. Sanders/J. Vincent (B/NL), WSP-Mega. 11. Wilkinson/J. Millard (GB), WSP-Husqvarna. 12. Foden/N. Weinmann (GB/D), WSP-AMS. 13. G. Carcreff/Hupon (F), VMC-Zabel. 14. M. Heinzer/M. Betschart (CH), VMC-KTM. 15. Hengster/Blume (D), VMC-KTM. 16. Hofmann/Hoffmann (D), VMC-Mega. 17. Peter/Zimmermann (D), VMC-Husqvarna. 18. K. Grondman/R. Vincent (NL), VMC-Zabel. 19. N. Hendrickx/Kaethoven (B), VMC-Mega. 20. T. van der Lagemaat/A. van de Wiel (NL), VMC-Zabel. 23. S. Buob/M. Buob (CH), VMC-Zabel. 29. Hoormann/Schlinnertz (D/B), VMC-Zabel.

Race 2: 1 . Vanluchene. 2. Prümmer. 3. Leferink. 4. Prunier. 5. Foden. 6. Wilkinson. 7. Käser. 8. Heinzer. 9. Hermans. 10. Carcreff. 11. D. Willemsen/van Hal (NL), WSP-KTM. 12. Hengster. 13. Peter. 14. Hendrickx. 15. Grondman. 16. Van de Lagemaat. 17. Hodges/Henderson (GB), WSP-Husqvarna. 18. Buob. 19. Hofmann. 20. Lielbardis. 25. Hoormann.

World Championship standings after 16 of 24 rounds:

1. Vanluchene 376 points. 2. Prunier 348. 3. Prümmer 324. 4. Wilkinson 278. 5. Leferink 234. 6. Hermans 203. 7. Lielbardis 181. 8. Foden 172. 9. Sanders 165. 10. Grondman 163. 11. Wijers 144. 15. Peter 100. 17. Hengster 69. 19. Heinzer 41. 25. Käser 27. 30. Hofmann and Uhlig 17 each. 37. Buob 9.