|
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 13th,
Jenkins just behind in 14th, Hyde 18th
and Wilkinson 19th. 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 13th, Hyde 16th, Jenkins
nineteenth and Wilkinson 20th 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 10th place.
Rudersberg Pictures
>>>>>
|