Brou in France is the destination this weekend for Round 3 of the 2025 FIM Sidecarcross World Championship, and the camping area was totally full by the time Saturday morning arrived with a high level of excitement building. If there were to be a surprise result this weekend, then Brou could well deliver.
Words by Barry Nutley – Images by WSC
Overnight rain had again fallen on the track, so conditions were certainly good for qualifying. A full support entry of solo machines would swell the programme and keep the hordes of spectators happy.
Free Practice got underway in very sticky track conditions. More rain was forecast, but the track drains very well, and the stiff breeze would help to keep things sensible. Justin Keuben/Dion Rietmann set the standard in group “A” from Daniel and Bruno Lielbardis, ahead of Weiss/Schneider and Wilkinson/Millard. The omnipresent Gwendal Carcreff/Mathis Hupon again showed their skills on home ground, running in the top five.
Group “B” saw the Pruner brothers strutting their stuff handsomely with Davy Sanders/Jens Vincent also riding strongly. Stephan Wijers/Han van Hal and Jason van Daele/Luc Rostingt were right up there too.
Marvin Vanluchene/Nicolas Musset banged in a fast lap at the end, whilst Tim Prummer, using Aivar van de Wiel, did not show what they are capable of, but surely that would come later.
Group “A” timed practice – Justin Keuben/Dion Rietman wasted no time in setting a fast lap ahead of the Lielbardis twins. Benny Weiss and Patrick Schneider were third for most of the session with Brett Wilkinson/Joe Millard well on the pace. Koen Hermans/Ben van den Bogaart waited patiently, then shot second fastest with four minutes left on the clock. Keuben responded to move almost one second clear at the top as the Lielbardis boys settled for fourth ahead of Wilkinson. Joshua and Noah Weinmann continued their run of form to get within half a second of Wilkinson’s time as they claimed sixth.
Group “B” timed practice – This session for the gate slots would show if the Prunier brothers could better Keuben’s “A” time. This they did in short order, setting a faster lap with their second tour. Vanluchene/Musset followed them closely, also getting below Keuben’s time. Jason van Daele meant business here and grabbed third I the early stages, only to be ousted by Davy Sanders on his Mega, just ahead of Daniel Willemsen. The multiple world champion was riding as usual with Michal Gabor.
Into the closing stages and Prunier found something special, netting a 2.03.671, which put him a clear second faster than both defending champion Vanluchene, and Justin Keuben. Tim and Sem Leferink also jumped up the order, finishing third fastest.
Group “A” Qualifying Race – The track had all but completely dried out when the first race came to the gate. There were even a few traces of dust popping upon some of the bends. Twenty minutes plus two laps lay ahead of the seventeen teams and down went the gate.
A brilliant start by Brett Wilkinson and Joe Millard put them in the front, from which they were never threatened. It was a British one-two with Stuart Brown/Scott Grahame slotting into second place, looking every inch a star turn. They were pressured enormously by Daniel and Bruno Lielbardis but thwarted every move by the young Latvians to get by. Lap after lap they tried to no avail, eventually falling victims to a charging Justin Keuben, recovering from a bad start. He was not the only one, as Koen Hermans also struggled off the gate. It was not long before the red plate was among the leaders and fighting with Keuben. This battle raged behind a fantastic performance by Stuart Brown/Scott Grahame, whilst out in front, Wilkinson/Millard were as clean as whistles, having led from the off. Benny Weiss caught up to join in and made it a close call at the flag.
Result
Group “B” Qualifying Race – This was a brilliant start for Daniel Willemsen/Michal Gabor, shooting into the lead from Davy Sanders/Jens Vincent, Mike Hodges/Ryan Henderson with the Prunier brothers, after getting the initial gate, bunching into turn one and having to fight back.
They picked off a few teams on the opening lap, but already the top three were getting away. We then saw a magnificent fight between Sanders, Hodges, Marvin Vanluchene/Nicolas Musset and Willemsen. The ten-times champion gradually slipped back, but what a performance he gave.
The Leferink brothers were making ground at one point, but some problem dropped them back. Lap three and the Prunier boys led the field, opening three seconds each lap. Meanwhile, Sanders, Hodges, and Vanluchene had an almighty fight, with Vanluchene battling through to be all over the back of Sanders, only to be caught and passed by Hodges on two occasions.
Eventually he appeared to tire, having had Covid diagnosed after Foxhill, and settled for fourth, with Willlemsen holding fifth ahead of Stephan Wijers.
This was an epic display by French Champions Killian and Evan, with an equally good showing by Sanders/Vincent.
Result
Last Chance – The remaining six gate spots were chosen from the non-qualifiers by the traditional “fast lap” method.
Result – 1/ Devoldere/Tourbier, 2/ Marquis/Fernandez,
3/ Chanteloup/Chanteloup, 4/Hertfelder/Debruyne, 5/ Raymond/Vareikaite,
6/ Perdereau/Salle
