Brett Wilkinson and Joe Millard put in a fantastic performance to finish second at the British Sidecarcross Gp at Foxhill yesterday, which was Round 2 of the 2025 FIM World Sidecarcross Championship.
Race Report by Barry Nutley – Images courtesy of WSC
The first news I got as I walked into the track on race day was that Tim Prummer and Jarno Steegmans would not be taking part in the racing due to a turn one incident in yesterday’s qualifying. We saw Prummer almost get the hole shot, only to then disappear. It transpired that a collision between Tim Prummer and Marvin Vanluchene broke Jarno’s foot where it was anchored firmly in the “D”.
This is a massive blow for the aspirations of the German and his young, enthusiastic Belgian passenger. They arrived here fifth in the standings and hopes were high ahead of this GP. Brett Wilkinson/Joe Millard closed on them by virtue of their qualifying points.
Weather conditions were perfect, and overnight rain had suppressed the dust of yesterday.
Warm Up – The Lielbardis boys headed the times in the warm-up session from Brett Wilkinson and Joe Millard. The young Latvians dropped a place in the standings after their noise penalty yesterday and now sit tenth. They will be keen to make amends in the two races.
Hodges/Ryan Henderson were bang on form after their sensational qualifying race. They had an incident which dropped them back, but up to that point they were flying.
This session is always just for the teams to update themselves with the track and any new conditions. With two GP races just round the corner, the tension was building nicely and expectations high.
Race One – A large crowd was in place by the time the opener lined up. They had already been treated to an EMX quad race and were nicely primed.
Down went the gate and the charge to turn one was on. Koen Hermans/Ben van den Bogaart flew into a lead they were never to lose. Brett Wilkinson was pipped to the post by Davy Sanders/Jens Vincent and Killian/Evan Prunier.
Vanluchene/Musset were next up with a whole string of big names chasing hard. The Lielbardis brothers, from fifteenth were soon in the top ten with work to do but lots of time to do it. Sadly for them, whilst trying a move on Michael Hodges/Ryan Henderson who had enjoyed another terrific start, they disappeared after a left-handed turn. They were then out of the reckoning, with their season sliding from bad to worse.
Hodges was in great form as indeed was Brett Wilkinson. With Lielbardis gone, Benny Weiss/Patrick Schneider were now on a charge and kept that pressure on.
Tim and Sem Leferink maintained their good momentum but were unable to get the better of Weiss/Schneider, as the Austrians brought it home in sixth place. Davy Sanders was ahead of them, having caught Vanluchene in the closing laps. The defending champion will need to find something more in race two if he is to have an answer to Hermans.
Result
Race Two – Hopes were high for this one, with the partisan crowd willing Wilkinson/Millard to even greater levels.
Down went the gate and away they went towards the fearsome first turn. There was the usual bunching up, but emerging first out of the melee came Hermans and Wilkinson. Brett muscled to the front briefly, then to everyone’s dismay, he stopped due to the kill switch coming out. By the time he had fired up again, he was way down out of the top ten. Far from giving up, he and Joe Millard began an epic fight back.
Hermans/van den Bogaart made the most of their good fortune and galloped past Wilkinson and away. Their speed was unrivalled, and they were never headed, winning the race with a sixteen second margin. The Prunier brothers were fighting for second with Justin Keuben/Dion Rietman and the Leferink brothers. This battle raged until the Frenchmen’s suspension collapsed. Their race was over and Keuben enjoyed a trouble-free run to second place. Tim and Sem Leferink rode a brilliant race to consolidate third place, with Vanluchene/Musset holding fourth.
Wilkinson’s fight back went at a good pace, and he overtook Vanluchene on the final lap, getting himself second overall in the Grand Prix behind Hermans/van den Bogaart. Vanluchene claimed third on the overall podium. While there were many other unique performances further down the field, veteran Stuart Brown with Scott Grahame did an exceptional job to make top ten overall.
Result
Overall Result
