Free practice and qualifying of the fifth round of the 2025 FIM World Sidecarcross Championship took place under clear blue skies in Lommel, Belgium on Saturday. There was also a large sidecar support programme underlining the depth of sidecar cross in the low countries. They would get the chance to show what they could do across the weekend.
Words by Barry Nutley – Images courtesy of WSC
Free Practice – The two GP groups set the scene, with Tim Prummer/Jarno Steegmans looking good ahead of Etienne/Robbie Bax and the Leferink brothers in group “A”. Koen Hermans/Ben van den Bogaart were in the mix with Willemsen/Gabor and Weiss/Schneider.
Group “B” saw Justin Keuben/Dion Rietman fastest, with the Prunier brothers some four seconds adrift fifth fastest. Local man and top Belgian Davy Sanders showed strongly. The weight of patriotic support would be falling on him in the absence of Marvin Vanluchene.
Group “A” timed practice – The clock was running for the thirty-minute session to find that elusive fast lap, so as to have pick of the grid for the qualifying races in the afternoon. From the word go, it was obvious the early lap times would give the teams the best chance.
Both Tim Prummer and Etienne Bax flew round on their first full lap, with Bax going top with a 1.43.843. Mid-way through the session, Tim/Sem Leferink moved second ahead of Prummer, with the track already cutting up.
Koen Hermans/Ben van den Bogaart sat fourth, almost two seconds off Bax’s time. Mid-pack, Brett Wilkinson/Joe Millard were locked in a scrap with Benny Weiss/Patrick Schneider for eighth spot. These positions were not to change.
Group “B” timed practice – Justin Keuben/Dion Rietman, Davy Sanders/Jens Vincent and the Lielbardis brothers set the early standard, with Keuben noticeably quicker. Second in the title chase Killian/Evan Prunier were clearly not feeling the love here in Lommel, so for them, this looked like it was going to be a tough weekend. Stephan Wijers/Han van Hal were a good fourth, showing their local sand knowledge and prowess.
At half-distance the deal looked done, with the track becoming ever more difficult. That indeed proved to be the case. Bax and Keuben headed the two groups.
Group “A” Qualifying Race – There was some cloud around, keeping the worst of the sun at bay heading for the start of this opening race. Twenty minutes lay ahead of the eighteen starters. With an entry of thirty-six teams, there would also be a busy “Last Chance” with those outside the top twelve in each race doing battle late in the day to survive.
From the gate, Etienne Bax got the holeshot, pulling a wheelie off the line and half-way up the straight. He absolutely meant it and he never looked back.
Others were not so lucky. Daniel Willemsen/Michal Gabor were once again very good off the line and kept the chasing pack at bay for two laps. These included Koen Hermans, the Leferink brothers and Brett Wilkinson/Joe Millard. As these crews fought for places, Koen Hermans/Ben van den Bogaart nosedived into a deep rut and went over the front, giving them a big challenge to make up ground. Meanwhile, Meanwhile, Julian Veldman and Tim Prummer, having got bogged down in the early stages, were having to fight through lap after lap. They caught up with Benny Weiss/Patrick Schneider who were scrapping with Wilkinson/Millard. The Austrians were then to hit problems, almost confining them to Last Chance.
Veldman was on a mission, and he made good his intention making it through to third behind the Leferinks, taking Prummer with him. Hermans claimed fourth.
GP Lommel debutants Jack Rogers and Ryan Beavis were sitting twelfth in the automatic qualification spot until they faded in the final two laps.
Result
Group “B” Qualifying Race – This was a copybook start for Justin Keuben/Dion Rietman who flew into the lead from Davy Sanders/Jens Vincent and a very quick starting Adrian Peter/Joel Hoffmann. Next came two Belgians Joeri van Malderen/Tony Kramar, and a pair of hungry Latvians in the shape of the Lielbardis twins. They set about chasing Peter/Hoffmann and made it through to move third on lap two. The Prunier brothers had an average start to be ninth first time around. As the race unfolded this became a respectable eighth and they were looking safe, although not comfortable.
Jake Brown/Chris Booth had a battling ride through from mid-pack, to appear close to the front at half-way. They then plugged away and brought it home fifth for a very creditable ride.
The Lielbardis twins were also making inroads on Sanders/Vincent, and eventually prevailed, going into second place with a ten second deficit on Keuben.
It was around this point the French Pruniers dropped down four places, having already nearly become stuck in a deep rut. They were in danger of being consigned to Last Chance, but managed to salvage twelfth and with it, automatic qualification, albeit on the back row.
Keuben had over twenty seconds lead at the flag, with Wijers/van Hal grabbing a fine third.
Result
Last Chance – Some very big names found themselves in this shootout, not least of being Stuart Brown by virtue of a noise penalty. The Weinmann brothers were also on the list, but Joshua was visiting the hospital with an injured back. The Frenchman Gwendal Carcreff was also a non-starter and therefore his Grand Prix is over.
The top eight are as follows – 1/ Brown/Grahame, 2/ Chanteloup/Chanteloup,
3/ Hofman/Zimmerman, 4/ Delmotte/Valke, 5/ Hodges/Henderson,
6/ Knubben/Plettke, 7/ Soetart/Bekaert, 8/ Hoorman/Schlinnerz.
