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The final round of the 2008 world Sidecarcross championships was held at Rudersberg, near Stuttgart, in Germany. The weather on Saturday was cold and wet making the track very ‘one line’ but on Sunday things brightened up with sunshine and no rain.
With an entry of 50 teams, the best of this year, qualifying was going to be difficult although the two qualifying races threw up some strange results. The last chance session went mostly as expected.
In the group A race Local crew Jo Brustmann / Stefan Urich led the race for the first few laps from Happich / Schelbert & Jan Hendrickx / Smeuninx. Willemsen / Grutter got tangled up on turn two and started virtually last. The two Brits in this group, Wilkinson / Burt and Lyne / Kirwin, were just outside the qualifying places at the beginning. Willemsen carved his way up through the field until he was up to third when he decided it was time to tell Grutter the error of his ways and proceeded to shout at him most of the way round the final lap. Once again the world champion’s behaviour did not do him justice and because of it he nearly lost third place. Hendrickx won from Happich with Lyne finishing in 8th and Wilkinson in 10th. Rupeiks, M.Willemsen and Derks fell by the wayside and did not make the cut.
In the group B race it was a much calmer affair with Jo Hendrickx / Liepins winning from Soederqvist / Sylwan with Sergis / Stupelis third. Brown / Peters worked their way up through the field to finish in 6th whilst Kinge, Millard and Pelling finished in 14th, 15th and 16th places.
In the last chance session all the fancied runners qualified but the only Brits in the 32, in second reserve position, were Dan & Joe Millard.
During Saturday evening Brown had to remove his engine to replace broken engine mounts and did not complete the work until just before midnight.
When the riders came to the line on Sunday for the first moto the track conditions were completely different from the day before with little sign of the mud that was all around the track off the racing line.
Sergis took the holeshot from Willemsen with Daiders third just ahead of Jan Hendrickx and Brustmann. Lyne and Brown were in the middle of the pack with Wilkinson nearer the back. By the end of the second lap Willemsen led from Sergis, Daiders and Jan Hendricks whilst Brown was now up to 9th. Over the next few laps Brustmann started to drop back in 5th place and was soon holding up the following group of Jo Hendrickx, Morch, Rupeiks and Brown. After 13 minutes Brustmann pulled out and Brown passed Rupeiks to take 8th place.
At the front Willemsen opened up a substantial lead over Sergis who in turn was well clear of Daiders. Jan Hendrickx closed on Daiders for a couple of laps but then decided safety was the order of the day and seemed to settle for 4th. Brown gained another two places by the flag giving him his best result since the French GP back in early June.
Willemsen took the win from Sergis with his fellow Latvians in 3rd. Lyne came home in 11th and Wilkinson 17th.
The final race of the year was led into the first corner by Sergis from Willemsen and Joris Hendrickx. Brown was about 10th and Lyne 20th but Wilkinson didn’t make it past the first bend before he was tipped over and restarted nearly last.
Along the bottom straight on lap two Willemsen powered past Sergis to take the lead which he then held to the flag. Joris was under serious pressure from Happich and after five laps the German was past. Brown was now up to 8th, Lyne was 15th and Wilkinson had worked his way up to 25th.
Soederqvist had worked his way up to 10th on lap three but on the next lap he rode straight through the straw bales just before the finish line, slowing his progress dramatically and derailing the chain at the same time. This manoeuvre dropped him to 17th.
Willemsen went on to win from Sergis with Happich third. Brown finished 7th with Lyne 11th and Wilkinson an excellent 18th. Marcel Willemsen in his last ever GP came home in 13th place.
Willemsen / Grutter had already been crowned world champions in the preceding round. Sergis / Stupelis claimed second place with Jan Hendrickx / Smeuninx third. Brown finished 17th, Lyne 24th, Wilkinson 33rd and Millard 35th.
Now that the season is virtually over the rumours will soon start about who will be riding with whom, who has retired and who will be able to afford to compete in the whole of the 2009 championship etc etc. By the start of next season we will know all the answers.
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