Lommel marks the halfway stage of the 2025 FIM World Sidecarcross championship, with the points situation at a very interesting stage.
Words by Barry Nutley – Images by WSC
The French Prunier brothers are in a rich vein of form just now, with back-to-back victories in Brou and Gdansk. They trail the red plate of Koen Hermans and Ben van den Bogaart by just seventeen points going into race nine of eighteen in Lommel. That is the good news, but they are less accustomed to riding in deep sand, and freely admit it is not their favourite type of track.
It could well be a case of getting the best result possible in what might be their most difficult weekend so far. Hermans by comparison, will relish the going and will aim to stretch his lead back to a safer cushion.
British riders Brett Wilkinson/Joe Millard are another team on a charge, elevating themselves to third in the standings in Poland at Marvin Vanluchene’s expense. The sad and sorry sight of the defending champion grappling with extreme fatigue in Gdansk, was something we fervently hope will not be repeated. For that to be the case, it will need Marvin to make a full recovery from the Covid symptoms still plaguing him. His fourth position is therefore tenuous, with Justin Keuben/Dion Rietman just eight points behind and Benny Weiss/Patrick Schneider a single point behind them.
In seventh, after two runner-up spots and second overall in Poland, Daniels and Bruno Lielbardis are back to form but still have an eighty-two-point deficit from the red plate. With over half the season still to go for, and a round to come in Latvia, do not count them out of the running.
Having said everything above, we cannot help but be excited at the return of Etienne and Robbie Bax, just one year after their sensational appearance in Lommel last year. Will it be more of the same? Will valuable points find themselves in the Bax pocket?
Possibly equal in excitement level, is the very popular piece of news, that the colourful and spectacular Julian Veldman will also perform in Lommel, returning to the sport with none other than reigning world champion Glenn Janssens alongside. This was a successful pairing in the 2022 season, so they know each other well. We spoke with Julian just last week in Poland and he said – “watch this space”. Well – the space came sooner than we thought.
These truly are prospects to relish, whilst guaranteeing to spice up the action and increase spectator numbers.
So Lommel awaits over the weekend of 28/29 June, and it will be a very full weekend, so if you can’t be there, make sure you catch the live action as it happens on the live stream courtesy of FIM-MOTO.TV
Current Standings
