Dull cold weather persisted in Karksi-Nuia for race day, with most of the entry apprehensive as to what the day would bring. It was dry first thing in the morning, but that was not the prognosis for the rest of the day. Much grading work had been carried out overnight on the bad sections of the track, but the ground was soft to a great depth in some parts, so warm-up was an interesting and quite hazardous affair.
Marvin Vanluchene and Ben van den Bogaart showed the way, setting a fastest time of 2.00.790 ahead of Tim Prummer/Patrick Schneider, both of whom have rapidly adapted to sandy track conditions, Tim having focussed on sand riding in Dutch events in recent years. Lielbardis and Kunnas were third, ahead of the Leferink brothers. These Dutch siblings were seen as dark horses due to their sand riding ability. Sanders and Hermans were fifth and sixth, both also showing their expertise in these special conditions.
Killian and Evan Prunier were much better this morning than their showing in qualifying yesterday, running tenth fastest, but freely admitted they were struggling with the sand, and were prepared to take this weekend for what they could get out of it, protecting the red plate if possible.
With a full programme of World Quadcross also punishing this track, no-one knew what to expect when race one of the sidecars came to the line.
The customary riders and official presentation got the ball rolling, and the day was underway.
Race One –
There was no sign of rain ahead of the opening sidecar race, so the quads had dried several sections of the track, albeit creating deep ruts. A sighting lap would be imperative before the off. That done, the gate dropped and the mud flew as the field battled to turn one.
Daniel Lielbardis hit the front going in, but Marvin and Ben dived underneath them and shot away in the lead, never to look back. They were chased by the Lielbardis/Kunnas outfit, the Leferinks and Davy Sanders/Brett Wilkinson fighting tooth and nail for fourth place.
There were several poor starts, among them the Prunier brothers and Tim Prummer/Patrick Schneider. Both these teams made progress, but Prummer was sensational on the early laps, getting himself into contention by half-distance. The Prunier brothers protected the red plate with a sensible and balanced ride that eventually rewarded them with sixth place.
Defending champion Koen Hermans was another poor starter but fought through well until he went missing and was declared retired with twenty-fourth place.
There was drama all down the field with Wilkinson/Millard getting stuck on lap seven when in fourth, losing out to Sanders, then turning over on lap eleven, again losing out to Sanders and Prummer. The British crew made it hard for themselves but had a fantastic race.
The top three circulated in line astern until Lielbardis went out with a breakdown with eleven laps completed. This was a tragedy for them but moved everyone up a place.
The Leferinks too had a scare when they got stuck on the final lap but had plenty in hand on Prummer.
Result –
1/Vanluchene/van den Bogaart, 2/Leferink/Leferink, 3/Prummer/Schneider, 4/Wilkinson/Millard, 5/Sanders/Vincent, 6/Prunier/Prunier, 7/Normak/Dukulis, 8/Wijers/Hoffmann,
9/Lihtsa/Lamp, 10/Karing/Niitsoo.
Race Two –
The sun had arrived and the track very much drier ahead of race two. What had not changed was the depth of the ruts and the looseness of the deep sand. The second quad race had further put its own footprint on the going, so this would be another test of skill and concentration.
For the final time this weekend the gate dropped to signal the cavalry charge to the first right-hander.
Once again Lielbardis hit the turn first, but once again, Marvin eclipsed him on the way out. Those two crews than had a real scrap round the opening lap with Marvin eventually gaining the verdict. In tow were Tim Prummer, the Leferinks, Wilkinson/Millard, and Koen Hermans/Dion Rietman. This set up a frantic few laps with Vanluchene under pressure from Lielbardis, although he did his usual feat of pulling a five second lead on lap two. This makes all the difference, as they are all then on the back foot.
Behind, the fight for third was well alight with Leferink looking good and Prummer and Wilkinson five seconds apart. Hermans was ahead of them, but they each passed him, with Wilkinson eventually hunting down Prummer at half distance. The number ninety-four red plate holders were down in tenth but battled on for an eventual seventh place finish to keep the red plate firmly in their truck.
Then dramatically, Sem Leferink was thrown from the sidecar and run over by a tailender, fortunately without injury. It did, however, bring about the Leferink’s retirement. This moved everyone up and that was all the incentive Brett Wilkinson needed to hunt down Prummer for second place. This he did with five minutes remaining on the clock.
Vanluchene/van den Bogaart were superb, moving to within three points of the red plate.
Result –
1/Vanluchene/van den Bogaart, 2/Wilkinson/Millard, 3/Prummer/Schneider, 4/Lielbardis/Kunnas, 5/Sanders/Vincent, 6/Hermans/Rietman, 7/Prunier/Prunier, 8/Grondman/Vincent,
9/Normak/Dukulis, 10/Wijers/Hoffmann.
Overall Result GP –
1/Vanluchene/van den Bogaart
2/Wilkinson/Millard
3/Prummer/Schneider.
The highlights show, with interviews, features and all the other excitement will be available shortly on FIM-MOTO.TV
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Round Six comes from Lommel over the weekend of 27-28 June with another trip to deep sand conditions. This challenge for some of the teams is one they will be anxious to put behind them, whilst for others who relish the deep sand, it could not come soon enough. Join us there in person, or courtesy of Live Stream on FIM-MOTO.TV