2008 Sidecarcross World Championship

Main article: Sidecarcross World Championship
2008 Sidecarcross World Championship
Season
Grands Prix12
Duration20 April–28 September
Drivers
ChampionsNetherlands Daniël Willemsen Switzerland Reto Grütter
Sidecarcross des NationsNetherlands Netherlands
← 2007
2009 →

The 2008 FIM Sidecarcross world championship, the 29th edition of the competition, started on 20 April and finished after twelve race weekends on 14 September 2008. Daniël Willemsen and Reto Grütter were the defending champions, having won the title in 2007, and repeated this achievement in 2008.

Overview

The 2008 season was the 29th edition of the sidecarcross world championship.

The twelve races of the season were held in ten countries, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, France (2x), Germany (2x), Croatia, Belgium, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine and Denmark.

After 17 seasons in the Sidecarcross World Championship, five-time World Champion Kristers Sergis announced his retirement from the competition, finishing his career with a second place in the 2008 edition.[1]

Format

Every Grand Prix weekend is split into two races, both held on the same day. This means, the 2008 season with its twelve Grand Prix has 24 races. Each race lasts for 30 minutes plus two rounds. The two races on a weekend actually get combined to determine an overall winner. While this overall winners receives no extra WC points, they usually are awarded a special trophy.

The first twenty teams of each race score competition points. The point system for the 2008 season is 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

Calendar

The calendar for the 2008 season:[3]

Date Place Race winners GP winner
20 April Netherlands Oss Latvia Kristers Sergis / Kaspars Stupelis Belgium Jan Hendrickx / Tim Smeuninx
Belgium Jan Hendrickx / Tim Smeuninx
11 May Czech Republic Jinín Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Switzerland Reto Grütter Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Switzerland Reto Grütter
Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Switzerland Reto Grütter
18 May Ukraine Chernivtsi Latvia Kristers Sergis / Kaspars Stupelis Latvia Kristers Sergis / Kaspars Stupelis
Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Switzerland Reto Grütter
1 June Italy Cingoli Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Switzerland Reto Grütter Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Switzerland Reto Grütter
Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Switzerland Reto Grütter
8 June France Bourg-Bruche Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Switzerland Reto Grütter Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Switzerland Reto Grütter
Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Switzerland Reto Grütter
13 July Belgium Genk Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Switzerland Reto Grütter Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Switzerland Reto Grütter
Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Switzerland Reto Grütter
20 July Germany Strassbessenbach Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Switzerland Reto Grütter Latvia Kristers Sergis / Kaspars Stupelis
Latvia Kristers Sergis / Kaspars Stupelis
3 August Denmark Slagelse Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Switzerland Reto Grütter Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Switzerland Reto Grütter
Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Switzerland Reto Grütter
10 August Latvia Kegums Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Switzerland Reto Grütter Latvia Maris Rupeiks / Haralds Kurpnieks
Latvia Kristers Sergis / Kaspars Stupelis
17 August Estonia Kiviõli Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Switzerland Reto Grütter Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Switzerland Reto Grütter
Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Switzerland Reto Grütter
7 September France Dardon Guegnon Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Switzerland Reto Grütter Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Switzerland Reto Grütter
Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Switzerland Reto Grütter
14 September Germany Rudersberg Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Switzerland Reto Grütter Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Switzerland Reto Grütter
Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Switzerland Reto Grütter
28 September Belgium Genk Netherlands Netherlands
  • The Sidecarcross des Nations in Genk on 28 September 2008 is a non-championship event but part of the calendar and is denoted by a light blue background in the table above.
  • Only Kegums and Rudersberg have been part of the 2007 race season, all other ten courses are new compare to last season.

Classification

Riders

The top ten of the 2008 season were:[4]

Position Driver / Passenger Equipment Bike
No 		Points
1 Netherlands Daniël Willemsen / Switzerland Reto Grütter Zabel-VMC 1 531
2 Latvia Kristers Sergis / Kaspars Stupelis KTM-AYR 3 434
3 Belgium Jan Hendrickx / Tim Smeuninx Zabel-VMC 2 421
4 Belgium Joris Hendrickx / Latvia Kaspars Liepins KTM-AYR 8 394
5 Germany Marko Happich / Switzerland Meinrad Schelbert Zabel-MEFO 7 317
6 Latvia Maris Rupeiks / Haralds Kurpnieks KTM-AYR 6 297
7 Czech Republic Vaclav Rozehnal / Marek Rozehnal Zabel-VMC 5 273
8 Latvia Janis Daiders / Lauris Daiders KTM-AYR 10 269
9 Belgium Nicky Pulinx / Czech Republic Ondrej Cermak Zabel-VMC 14 244
10 Netherlands Etienne Bax / Marc van Deutekom Zabel-VMC 21 240
  • Equipment listed is motor and frame.

Manufacturers

Parallel to the riders championship, a manufacturers competition is also held. The final standings in the manufacturers competition were:[4]

Position Manufacturer Points
1 VMC 584
2 AYR 504
3 KTM 394
4 Husaberg 0
BSU 0

Race by race statistics

The numbers for every team are allocated according to their 2007 season finish, meaning the world champion received number one and so on. The numbers for drivers not participating this season were not re-allocated. New entries received a random number above the number 48 which is the last place achieved by a driver in the points in 2007. This system makes it possible to see a driver's improvement or decline from last year by comparing number with position.

The following teams have taken part in races this season:[4]

Driver / Passenger Equipment No. Points 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
1 Netherlands Daniël Willemsen /

Switzerland Reto Grütter *

Zabel-VMC 1 531 5 3 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 x 1 1 1 D1 1 1 1 1 1 1
2 Latvia Kristers Serģis /

Kaspars Stupelis

KTM-AYR 3 434 1 x 2 x 1 2 2 3 2 5 x 2 3 1 2 2 7 1 2 D2 2 2 2 2
3 Belgium Jan Hendrickx /

Tim Smeuninx

Zabel-VMC 2 421 2 1 7 4 8 6 13 6 5 2 2 3 8 5 4 4 5 2 3 3 7 3 4 5
4 Belgium Joris Hendrickx /

Latvia Kaspars Liepiņš

KTM-AYR 8 394 3 7 3 5 2 7 5 4 8 4 3 4 12 2 6 8 6 5 5 10 5 4 5 4
5 Germany Marko Happich /

Switzerland Meinrad Schelbert

Zabel-MEFO 7 317 x 4 6 6 7 4 3 2 4 3 x 11 6 11 18 x 8 3 8 9 9 5 8 3
6 Latvia Māris Rupeiks /

Haralds Kurpnieks

KTM-AYR 6 297 12 x 4 8 12 5 7 x 12 7 4 7 5 6 x 7 2 4 11 2 3 x 7 9
7 Czech Republic Vaclav Rozehnal /

Marek Rozehnal

Zabel-VMC 5 273 14 8 x 2 4 3 4 11 7 6 7 8 2 x 13 12 10 7 15 6 8 10 x x
8 Latvia Jānis Daiders /

Lauris Daiders

KTM-AYR 10 269 19 12 11 x 6 11 6 x x 9 6 x 4 10 9 6 3 13 6 4 6 7 3 6
9 Belgium Nicky Pulinx /

Czech Republic Ondrej Cermak *

Zabel-VMC 14 244 16 x 9 16 5 9 9 7 9 14 x 6 11 9 14 19 4 12 4 5 4 6 12 x
10 Netherlands Etienne Bax /

Marc van Deutekom

Zabel-VMC 21 240 4 x 8 10 x 12 8 8 6 10 8 15 10 3 8 13 9 9 7 x 14 13 13 16
11 Netherlands Marcel Willemsen /

Germany Marco Godau

Zabel-VSP 17 208 10 11 5 7 9 8 12 x x 18 9 10 15 8 5 5 15 10 x 14 13 x 15 13
12 Netherlands Carlo van Duijnhoven /

Christian Verhagen

Zabel-VMC 12 172 8 6 15 11 17 13 14 12 15 x x 18 x 15 x 10 11 6 10 7 x 11 16 12
13 Netherlands Thijs Derks /

Gertie Eggink *

Husaberg-VMC 27 158 13 2 14 18 x 15 17 x 10 8 10 9 x 18 10 20 17 8 16 13 17 12 18 x
14 Netherlands Eric Schrijver /

Henry van de Wiel

MTH-VMC 101 139 6 5 19 x 14 14 19 14 11 12 12 16 9 14 13 19 18 x 11 x 14 x
15 Germany Martin Walter /

Andre Saam *

Zabel-WSP 15 127 x 20 10 9 11 10 10 5 x x 11 x 14 14 x 16 18 x x 11 x 13
16 Belgium Peter Steegmans /

Dagwin Sabbe

Zabel-WSP 40 115 20 17 x 9 5 5 7 4 x x 12 x 9 8
17 United Kingdom Stuart Brown /

Luke Peters *

Zabel-VMC 24 108 18 9 11 x 3 13 13 17 20 x x 8 6 7
18 Germany Thomas Morch /

Marius Strauss

Zabel-WSP 23 102 12 13 10 18 18 10 17 19 16 19 x 15 x 14 19 16 17 18 16 x 10 19
19 Belgium Kristof Santermans /

Netherlands Ben van den Bogaart

Zabel-WSP 33 93 x 16 x x 15 19 x 17 15 12 17 x x 11 16 11 x 12 10 9 x x
20 Sweden Henrik Söderqvist /

Tobias Sylwan

Husaberg-AYR 11 89 x 3 3 3 15 9 10
21 Czech Republic Lukas Cerny /

Tomas Huml

JAWA-VMC 31 74 13 12 16 17 18 x x 13 x 20 11 17 14 x 19 14 19 17
22 Netherlands Jarno van den Boomen /

Bjorn Roes *

Zabel-VMC 16 68 11 x 17 15 13 x x 14 7 9 14 x x x
23 Estonia Margo Sonn /

Maarek Mill

KTM-AYR 103 65 16 14 15 16 20 20 19 15 14 x x x 16 18 x 18 13 15 x
24 United Kingdom John Lyne /

Pete Girling

Zabel-VMC 26 55 17 15 x 13 16 x x 20 12 x x x x x x 19 11 11
25 France Baptiste Bigand /

Julien Bigand

Zabel-VMC 35 45 x x 16 15 13 x x x x 19 x x x 12 x 12 15 x x
26 Switzerland Andy Bürgler /

Sweden Daniel Fagerberg

KTM-VMC 4 31 9 10 13 x
27 Belgium Andreas Clohse /

Netherlands Robbie Bax

JAWA-VMC 28 27 x 16 14 x x x 20 14 x x 18 17 x x
28 Germany Josef Brustmann /

Stefan Urich

KTM-NPM 29 25 16 7 x 15
29 Sweden Patrick Fagerberg /

Daniel Fagerberg

KTM-AYR 122 24 18 17 x x 20 15 x 15 x 17
30 Netherlands Jan Visscher /

Jeroen Visscher

Zabel-VMC 38 21 7 x 20 16 20
31 Switzerland Josua Luscher /

Markus Gloor

Husaberg-VMC 87 21 x 17 20 11 19 17
32 Austria Bertram Martin /

Switzerland Bruno Kaelin

Zabel-VMC 68 21 x x x 16 x 12 x 14
33 United Kingdom Scott Wilkinson /

Gary Burt

Zabel-VMC 19 18 x 14 x x 17 x x x 17 18
34 Estonia Gert Godejev /

Keit Kivaste

KTM-AYR 151 16 20 19 18 x x 17 20 16
35 United Kingdom Daniel Millard /

Joe Millard

Husaberg-WSP 99 13 x 18 x x 18 x 15 x x 20
36 Netherlands Wim Janssen /

Bart Notten

Zabel-VMC 55 9 15 18
37 Czech Republic Tomas Cermak /

Ondrej Cermak

JAWA-MEFO 9 8 x 13
38 Germany Jens Bochmann /

Sandro Michelotto

KTM-VMC 69 5 x x 19 x 18 x
39 Estonia Urmas Sugasep /

Veiko Parksepp

KTM-AYR 911 5 20 x 19 x 19 x
40 Netherlands Patrick Greup /

Roy Derks *

MTH-VMC 111 4 x x 17 x
41 France Benjamin Daniel /

Guennady Auveray

Husaberg-VMC 116 4 x 18 20 x
42 Russia Dmitry Anochin /

Maxim Scherbak

Zabel-MEFO 142 3 20 19
43 Latvia Oskars Liepiņš /

Ilvars Ameļkins

KTM-AYR 45 2 x x x 19
44 Belgium Sonny Van Niewenhuse /

Birger Beernaert

Husaberg-VMC 132 2 19 x
45 Estonia Kert Varik /

Erkki Koiv

KTM-AYR 39 2 x 19 x x x
46 Estonia Sverre Lamp /

Alar Lamp

KTM-AYR 50 1 x x x 20
47 Estonia Argo Poldsaar /

Indrek Aljes

KTM-AYR 48 1 x 20
48 Netherlands Gert van Werven /

Rick Sellis

KTM-VMC 89 1 x 20 x x
49 Lithuania Liutauras Variakois /

Latvia Artūrs Linters

KTM-AYR 57 1 x 20 x x
50 Austria Anton Wanger /

Czech Republic Michael Gabor

MTH-MEFO 52 1 x 20
Belgium Geert Devoldere /

France Edouard Chereau

Husaberg-MEFO 25 0 x x x x x x
Netherlands Johan Smit /

Peter Holleman

Zabel-BSU 115 0 x x x x
Lithuania Romas Kišūnas /

Mantas Kišūnas

Zabel-BSU 60 0 x x
Germany Willi Lieble /

Czech Republic Vaclav Hotovy

MEFO 65 0 x x
Sweden Sonnie Folkesson /

Mattias Andersson

MTH-MEFO 172 0 x x
Czech Republic Jaroslav Kriz /

Milan Gazik

MTH-EML 112 0 x x
France Andre Michel Bernard /

Jacques Pillier

VMC 82 0 x x x x x x x
Ukraine Vadim Briuhov /

Vitaly Babic

Zabel 84 0 x x
Ukraine Vasyl Kolisnichenko /

Dmitro Sorokin

BSU 83 0 x x
Estonia Sergei Ivanov /

Atho Jalas

AYR 53 0 x x
Ukraine Oleh Kuklin /

Vasyl Nesterenko

MEFO 85 0 x x
Ukraine Dmytro Grychanuk /

Oleksandr Litovchenko

BSU 86 0 x
Ukraine Valeriy Starchenko /

Evhen Potanin

VMC 81 0 x
United Kingdom Mark Kinge /

Gary Kinge

KTM-VMC 71 0 x x x x x x
Germany Marko Schulz /

Austria Mario Meusburger

Zabel-VMC 72 0 x x
Austria Kevin Bitsche /

Johannes Vonbun

Zabel-WSP 67 0 x x x x
France Jean-Marie Ains /

Bernard Jayet

MEFO 37 0 x x x x
United Kingdom Andy Eastman /

Steve Krwin

KTM-VMC 36 0 x x
Sweden Robin Karlsson /

Richard Karlsson

AYR 118 0 x x
Estonia Madis Olt /

Tõnu Valdma

AYR 70 0 x
Finland Marko Dammert /

Mika Hietala

AYR 96 0 x x
France Florian Blanco /

Vincent Blanco

Husaberg 117 0 x x
France Herve Boursaud /

Emeric Poirier

VMC 78 0 x
France Patrik Gorardin /

Dominique Desplaces

VMC 113 0 x
Germany Jürgen Blank /

Rainer Semet

VMC 80 0 x x
  • Where there is only one flag shown, it indicates driver and passenger are from the same country.
  • Placings below the first twenty not shown.
  • Teams who took part in the qualifying but failed to qualify for a race are not shown.
  • x denotes qualified for race but finished outside of points.
  • Passengers in italics.
  • Equipment is engine and frame.
  • Daniël Willemsen used Bruno Kaelin as his passenger in the first two races.
  • Jarno van den Boomen used Guennady Auvrey as his passenger in race one and two, Premysl Novotny in race three and four and Sven Verbrugge in race five and six.
  • Thijs Derks used Tom van Duijnhoven as his passenger in race one and two.
  • Nicky Pulinx used Sven Verbrugge as his passenger in race one to four.
  • Stuart Brown used Wilfreid Keuben as his passenger in race one and two and Colin Dunkley in race seven to ten.
  • Patrick Greup used Jimmy van Gennip as his passenger in race one and two.
  • Martin Walter used Thomas Weinmann as his passenger in race 23 and 24.
  • Only 30 teams registered in time for the Jinin race, therefore every team qualified for the race.[5]
  • 1 In race fourteen of the season, the team Willemsen/Grütter was disqualified due to Grütter losing a glove, after a protest by Kristers Sergis. The lost glove disabled the emergency-stop system of the bike, which is a break of FIM rules.[6]
  • 2 In race twenty of the season, the team Sergis/Stupelis was disqualified after winning the race due to the team mechanic refusing an inspection of the bike. The bike supposedly did not comply with noise level regulations.[7]

References

  1. ^ "Side Car Moto-Cross". netherlandsembassy.lv. 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-05. [dead link‍]
  2. ^ Ergebnisse: World Sidecarcross Championships 2007
  3. ^ FIM Sidecarcross World Championship – 2008 Calendar Archived June 9, 2012, at the Wayback Machine FIM website, accessed: 5 August 2011
  4. ^ a b c FIM SIDECAR MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: Classification 2008 Archived 2012-06-09 at the Wayback Machine FIM website, accessed: 13 August 2011
  5. ^ Results from the Jinin race Archived May 14, 2008, at the Wayback Machine mx247.com, accessed: 13 May 2008
  6. ^ Team Willemsen website - No points in second heat GP Germanie?! Archived 2008-10-10 at the Wayback Machine (in Dutch) accessed: 5 August 2008
  7. ^ mx247.com - Estonia race Archived August 22, 2008, at the Wayback Machine accessed: 19 August 2008