Report from Rudersberg. 

The final round of the 2011 sidecarcross world championships took place at Rudersberg over the weekend and such is the popularity of the track 50 riders entered – the largest entry this year.

In the qualification race for group A the new world champions, Willemsen / Verbrugge took the holeshot from Scherbinin / Kurpnieks and Burgler / Markert. The Millard brothers were well up with Etheridge / Humphrey and France / France just outside the top 10.

Before the lap was completed Willemsen / Verbrugge had stopped and seemed to have a brief shouting match before going their separate ways, their race was done. This left Burgler leading from Scherbinin with Millard now third. France was in twelfth but Etheridge made a mistake and dropped back to sixteenth just behind Pelling / Pannel.

After eight minutes Millard passed Scherbinin but was soon under pressure from Hendrickx / Smeuninx who had also passed the Russian.

With three laps to go Hendrickx took Millard and on the last lap he passed Burgler to take the win. Millard was a brilliant third with Etheridge also qualifying in eleventh place. France pulled out after fifteen minutes with passenger Stewart struggling for breath. Pelling was fourteenth.

In the group B race Rupeiks / Stupelis led from Giraud / Musset and the Daiders brothers in third. Brown / Chamberlain were in fifth, B.Wilkinson / Parmenter ninth, Jenkins / Gustavsson eleventh, Keane / Parmenter thirteenth and Hyde / Kirwin, after a poor start, twenty first.

On the second lap Musset fell out of the chair and before he could remount Daiders was past. Half way round lap four disaster struck Rupeiks when his exhaust came adrift and he was out. Daiders took the lead and went on to take the win from Giraud with Bax / v.den Bogaart third. Brown finished fifth, Jenkins seventh, Wilkinson ninth and Keane twelfth. Hyde pulled out on lap eight with mechanical problems.

In the last chance after Willemsen / Verbrugge had kissed and made up disaster struck again. Over the big table top they crash landed and Verbrugge tumbled to the floor. They got going again and put in one quick lap securing second place behind Rupeiks. France and Hyde both qualified but Pelling just missed out.

On Sunday morning the seriousness of Willemsen’s crash became apparent as he was now sporting a plaster cast on his wrist. His meeting was over.

As the riders came to the line for the first leg the temperature was probably hotter than it was on Saturday and there was hardly any breeze to make it any less oppressive.

The penultimate race of the year was headed by Bax from Giraud with Daiders just behind in third. Everyone got away cleanly except Keane who tipped over on the first turn and they both ended up being pinned underneath the outfit. Once they had got free and restarted the motor they were dead last. The Millard brothers luck wasn’t much better as they only managed half a lap before their clutch gave up.

At the front Bax was leading by no more than a few bikes lengths from Giraud with Daiders third and Hendrickx fourth. Brown was in a comfortable fifth with Jenkins twelfth, Hyde eighteenth. France & Etheridge were just outside the points. Just before half distance Hyde was out with a broken battery terminal.

On lap eight Giraud made his move on Bax and held it round one of the long sweeping bends to take the lead. On the next lap Bax went down to third when Daiders swept past. Brown was still comfortable in fifth, Jenkins was still twelfth, France was out with a rear wheel puncture whilst Wilkinson and Etheridge were still just outside the points.

With two laps to go Bax, who was obviously tiring in the heat, was passed by Hendrickx. Giraud took the win, his first, from Daiders with Hendrickx third. Brown came home in fifth, Jenkins dropped to fourteenth and Etheridge crept into the points in nineteenth place.

In the final race of the year Bax again took the holeshot from Happich and Millard in third.  Jenkins was in ninth, Brown fourteenth and Wilkinson nineteenth. Etheridge crashed on the second lap with the pair of them tumbling over the side of the track into the undergrowth. Their race was over and Humphrey was taken to the Red Cross with a sore shoulder.

After ten minutes Daiders passed Millard to take third place. By this time Millard had a damaged front break after a minor bump with Happich. By half distance the Latvians had overtaken the German for second place and set off after Bax. Brown was 13^th, Jenkins just behind in 14^th, Hyde 18^th and Wilkinson 19^th. France and Keane were outside the points.

With ten minutes to go Millard was passed by both Adriaenssen and Giraud and dropped to sixth. Bax took the win from Daiders with Happich third much to the delight of the crowd. Millard was sixth, Brown 13^th, Hyde 16^th, Jenkins nineteenth and Wilkinson 20^th gaining his first world championship point.

Although they did not race today Willemsen / Verbrugge are world champions of 2011 with Daiders second and Hendrickx third.  Millard was the top Brit finishing in 10^th place.

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