2009 Sidecarcross World Championship

2009 Sidecarcross World Championship
Season
Grands Prix 13
Start date 29 March
End date 13 September
Drivers
Champions Belgium Joris Hendrickx
Latvia Kaspars Liepins
Sidecarcross des Nations Belgium Belgium
Chronology
Previous season Next season
2008 2010

The 2009 FIM Sidecarcross world championship, the 30th edition of the competition, started on 29 March and finished after thirteen race weekends on 13 September 2009.

After six championships in a row for Daniël Willemsen, the 2009 edition was won by Joris Hendrickx from Belgium. His passenger, Kaspars Liepins, is from Latvia.[1]

Parallel to the riders competition, a manufacturers championship was also held[2] and won by Vruwink MotorCycles - VMC.[3]

Overview

The 2009 season was the 30th edition of the sidecarcross world championship. The defending champion was Daniël Willemsen from the Netherlands. He started the season with a new passenger, having parted with the Swiss Reto Grütter, whom he won the 2007 and 2008 title with. After 17 seasons in the sidecarcross world championship, former five-time world champion Kristers Sergis had announced his retirement from the competition, having finished his career with a second place in the 2008 edition.[4] Another former world champion to retire from the competition was Marcel Willemsen, but he did still take part in one more Grand Prix during the season. With Kaspars Stupelis and Sven Verbrugge, two riders who had won world championships as passengers with Daniël Willemsen also took part in the competition, the later reunited with Willemsen in a team.

The thirteen races of the season were held in eleven countries, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Ukraine, Netherlands, Latvia, Estonia, Russia, Denmark, Poland and Germany. It was the first time since 2001, that the championship had returned to the traditional sidecarcross nation of Switzerland. Russia was on the calendar only for the second time, the previous race having been scheduled to be held in Moscow in 2004 but being cancelled because of heavy rain. Poland hosted a race for the first time. The competition however did not return to Great Britain who held its last event in 2001.[5]

Format

The multiple champion Daniël Willemsen in action.

Every Grand Prix weekend is split into two races, both held on the same day. This means, the 2011 season with its thirteen Grand Prix has 26 races. Each race lasts for 30 minutes plus two laps. The two races on a weekend actually get combined to determine an overall winner. In case of a tie, the results of the second race as used to determined the winner. While this overall winners receives no extra WC points, they usually are awarded a special trophy. Race start times are set at 13:30 and 16:00.[2]

Events typically consist of a qualifying competition, held in multiple stages on Saturdays of a race weekend while the two race events are typically held on Sundays. One exception to this rule is Easter weekends, when the races are held on Easter Monday. Race weekends can consist of additional motocross or quart support races as well, but the FIM stipulates that the World Championship races have priority. Riders have to be provided with at least one 30 minute free practice season, which will be timed. A race can consist of up to 30 starters and the qualifying modus is dependent on the number of entries. Up to 32 entries, it will be held in one group split into two sessions of 30 minutes each. Above 32 entries, the starter field will be sub-divided into two groups through ballot and the current standings. Each qualifying group can consist of up to 30 racers. Should there be more than 60 entries, a pre-qualifying has to be held. Of the riders in the two groups, the top-twelve directly qualify for the races. The remaining teams then go to a second-chance qualifying, in which the best six advance. The riders placed seventh and eighth remain in reserve should one of the qualified teams not be able to participate.[2]

The FIM stipulates that all drivers must be of a minimum age of 18 while passengers have to be at least 16 years old to compete, but no older than 50. Riders older than 50 have to provide a certificate of medical fitness to be permitted to compete. The driver has the right to exchange his passenger under certain conditions.[2]

Starting numbers for the season are awarded according to the previous seasons overall finishing position of the driver. Current or former World Champions have however the right to pick any number they wish, except the number one which is reserved for the current World Champion.[2]

The competition is open for motor cycles with two-stroke engines from between 350 and 750 cc and four-stroke engines of up to 1,000 cc. Each team is permitted the use of two motorcycles with the possibility of changing machines between races.[2]

The FIM does not permit radio communication between riders and their teams. Outside assistance during the race on the course is not permitted unless it is through race marshals in the interest of safety. Limited repairs in the designated repair zone during the race are permitted.[2]

The first twenty teams of each race score competition points. The point system for the 2009 season was as follows:[2]

Place Points
1 25
2 22
3 20
4 18
5 16
6 15
7 14
8 13
9 12
10 11
Place Points
11 10
12 9
13 8
14 7
15 6
16 5
17 4
18 3
19 2
20 1

Prize money

Price money and travel reimbursements in the sport are not large, sidecarcross still qualifying mostly as an amateur sport. In the 2009 season for example, every team received Euro 500 as a travel indemnity per race weekend qualified for. Additionally, price money was paid, with the winner earning €300, the second placed team €250, the third placed team €200. With the prize money gradually dropping off from there, the teams placed twelfth to twentieth still received €50 each.[2]

Calendar

The calendar for the 2009 season:[6]

Date Place Race winners GP winner Source
29 March France Castelnau Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Belgium Dagwin Sabbe Belgium Jan Hendrickx / Tim Smeuninx Result
Belgium Jan Hendrickx / Tim Smeuninx
3 May Switzerland Wohlen Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Belgium Sven Verbrugge Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Belgium Sven Verbrugge Result
Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Belgium Sven Verbrugge
17 May Poland Gdańsk Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Belgium Sven Verbrugge Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Belgium Sven Verbrugge Result
Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Belgium Sven Verbrugge
24 May Ukraine Chernivtsi Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Belgium Sven Verbrugge Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Belgium Sven Verbrugge Result
Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Belgium Sven Verbrugge
7 June Netherlands Varsseveld Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Belgium Sven Verbrugge Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Belgium Sven Verbrugge Result
Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Belgium Sven Verbrugge
12 July Belgium Genk Germany Marko Happich / Switzerland Martin Betschart Germany Marko Happich / Switzerland Martin Betschart Result
Latvia Janis Daiders / Lauris Daiders
19 July Germany S'bessenbach Latvia Janis Daiders / Lauris Daiders Belgium Joris Hendrickx / Latvia Kaspars Liepins Result
Belgium Joris Hendrickx / Latvia Kaspars Liepins
26 July Denmark Slagelse Belgium Jan Hendrickx / Tim Smeuninx Sweden Henrik Söderqvist / Tobias Sylwan Result
Sweden Henrik Söderqvist / Tobias Sylwan
9 August Latvia Kegums Belgium Jan Hendrickx / Tim Smeuninx Belgium Jan Hendrickx / Tim Smeuninx Result
Belgium Jan Hendrickx / Tim Smeuninx
16 August Russia Penza Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Belgium Sven Verbrugge Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Belgium Sven Verbrugge Result
Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Belgium Sven Verbrugge
23 August Estonia Kiviõli Belgium Jan Hendrickx / Tim Smeuninx Latvia Janis Daiders / Lauris Daiders Result
Latvia Janis Daiders / Lauris Daiders
6 September France Saint-Jean Belgium Jan Hendrickx / Tim Smeuninx Latvia Janis Daiders / Lauris Daiders Result
Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Belgium Sven Verbrugge
13 September Germany Rudersberg Belgium Joris Hendrickx / Latvia Kaspars Liepins Belgium Joris Hendrickx / Latvia Kaspars Liepins Result
United Kingdom Stuart Brown / Luke Peters
27 September Germany Jauer Belgium Belgium

Classification

Riders

The final standings of the 2009 season:[3]

Position Driver / Passenger Equipment Bike
No		 Points
1 Belgium Joris Hendrickx / Latvia Kaspars Liepins KTM-VMC 4 483
2 Belgium Jan Hendrickx / Tim Smeuninx KTM-VMC 3 465
3 Latvia Jānis Daiders / Lauris Daiders KTM-VMC 8 418
4 Germany Marko Happich / Switzerland Martin Betschart Zabel-MEFO 5 377
5 Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Belgium Sven Verbrugge Zabel-VMC 1 366
6 Czech Republic Vaclav Rozehnal / Marek Rozehnal Zabel-VMC 7 365
7 Latvia Māris Rupeiks / Haralds Kurpnieks KTM-WSP 6 341
8 Netherlands Etienne Bax / Marc van Deutekom Zabel-VMC 10 300
9 United Kingdom Stuart Brown / Luke Peters Husaberg-VMC 17 266
10 Czech Republic Tomas Cermak / Ondrej Cermak JAWA-MEFO 37 261
11 Belgium Peter Steegmans / Netherlands Christian Verhagen Zabel-VMC 16 245
12 Belgium Nicky Pulinx / Latvia Kaspars Stupelis Zabel-VMC 9 229
13 Belgium Kristof Santermans / Ben van den Bogaart Zabel-WSP 19 182
14 Germany Thomas Morch / Netherlands Robbie Bax Zabel-WSP 18 142
15 Netherlands Jan Visscher / Jeroen Visscher Zabel-VMC 30 122
16 Netherlands Gerrit van Werven / Gertie Eggink KTM-VMC 96 113
17 United Kingdom Daniel Millard / Joe Millard Husaberg-WSP 35 109
18 Belgium Ben Adriaenssen / Netherlands Kenny van Gaalen KTM-VMC 90 108
19 Sweden Henrik Söderqvist / Tobias Sylwan Husaberg-MEFO 20 101
20 Germany Martin Walter / Andre Saam Zabel-WSP 15 100
21 Sweden Robert Gustavsson / Henrik Apelgren KTM-MEFO 747 52
22 Switzerland Joshua Luscher / Austria Markus Gloor Husaberg-VMC 31 51
23 Estonia Margo Sonn / Latvia Elvijs Mucenieks KTM-AYR 23 48
24 Netherlands Marcel Willemsen / Switzerland Bruno Kaelin Zabel-WSP 11 41
25 Austria Kevin Bitsche / Johannes Vonbun Zabel-WSP 67 41
26 France Benjamin Daniel / Guennady Auvray Husaberg-WSP 41 39
27 Netherlands Thijs Derks / Roy Derks Husaberg-EML 13 26
28 Estonia Gert Gordejev / Keit Kivaste KTM-AYR 34 24
29 Czech Republic Lukas Cerny / France Edouard Chereau JAWA-MEFO 21 22
30 Russia Evgeny Scherbinin / Sergey Sosnovskikh KTM-AYR 79 19
31 Croatia Miroslav Knotig / Netherlands Robbie Bax MEFO 98 19
32 Russia Roman Koch / Aleksey Bessarabov Zabel 351 19
33 France Baptiste Bigand / Julien Bigand Zabel-VMC 25 18
34 Latvia Arnolds Sīlis / Gints Sīlis MTH-VMC 171 18
35 United Kingdom John Lyne / Steve Kirwin KTM-VMC 24 17
36 United Kingdom Mark Kinge / Kev Foyle Husaberg-WSP 71 17
37 Netherlands Eric Schrijver / Patrick van de Nieuwenhuizen MTR-VMC 14 16
38 Netherlands Carlo van Duijnhoven / Tom van Duijnhoven Zabel-VMC 12 14
39 Finland Joonas Saloniemi / Juho Saloniemi KTM-AYR 53 14
40 Russia Michail Kursov / Pavel Anikin Zabel 311 12
41 Russia Igor Rodionov / Dmitri Rodionov KTM-AYR 199 12
42 Germany Andreas Rutter / Steffen Nicke Zabel 102 11
43 Belgium Boudewijn Gommeren / Jean Pierre Loos KTM-Bastech 130 11
44 Estonia Argo Poldsaar / Indrek Aljes KTM-AYR 44 11
45 Estonia Sergei Ivanov / Atho Jalas KTM-AYR 188 10
46 Lithuania Liutauras Variakojis / Arvydas Davidonis KTM-AYR 49 9
47 Belgium Andreas Clohse / Birgen Beernaert Zabel-VMC 27 8
48 Netherlands Marcel Grondman / Rick Sellis Zabel-VMC 55 7
49 Netherlands Frank Mulders / Roy Derks MTR-WSP 111 7
50 France Jean Marie Ains / Matthieu Cailleau JAWA-MEFO 65 7
51 Ukraine Valeriy Starchenko / Evhen Potanin Zabel-VMC 901 5
52 United Kingdom Richard Jenkins / Daniel Chamberlain Zabel-VMC 87 5
53 Ukraine Dmytro Hrechanuk / Oleksandr Litovchenko MTH-BSU 92 4
54 France Dorian Boileau / Paul Fressard Husaberg-VMC 77 4
55 Denmark John Nielsen / Dennis Hansen JAWA-VMC 191 3
56 United Kingdom Nick Jarvis / Josh Chamberlain KTM-VMC 144 2
57 Denmark Tommy Sorensen / Andreas Linden Husaberg-AYR 92 2
58 Germany Willi Liebl / Czech Republic Vladislav Gabor Husaberg-MEFO 66 2
59 Lithuania Zigmas Žiukas / Jonas Davidonis KTM-AYR 52 2
60 France Guillaume Martin / Edouard Chererau Zabel-VMC 110 1
61 Netherlands Wim Janssen / Bart Notten Zabel-VMC 36 1
62 Germany Werner Wittmann / Czech Republic Premysl Novotny KTM-NMP 116 1
63 Estonia Kert Varik / Veikko Parksepp KTM-AYR 45 1

Manufacturers

Parallel to the riders championship, a manufacturers competition is also held. In every race, only the best-placed rider of every make is awarded points in this competition.[2]

The final standings in the manufacturers competition were:[3]

Position Manufacturer Points
1 VMC 642
2 MEFO 434
3 WSP 411
4 AYR 65
5 KTM 30
6 Husaberg 4
BSU 4

References

  1. ↑ MSC Wieslauftal (Rudersberg GP) website (German) News, accessed: 14 September 2009. Archived 2009-09-16.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 FIM SIDECAR MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP APPENDIX FIM website, accessed: 27 July 2011
  3. 1 2 3 FIM SIDECAR MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: Classification 2009 FIM website, accessed: 8 August 2011
  4. ↑ "Side Car Moto-Cross". netherlandsembassy.lv. 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-05.
  5. ↑ Sidecarcross GP Destinations The John Davey Pages, accessed: 8 August 2011
  6. ↑ FIM Sidecarcross World Championship – 2009 Calendar FIM website, accessed: 5 August 2011

External links

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