Brett Wilkinson and Joe Millard secure second at World Sidecarcross season opener
By Chris Helm on 20th Apr 26
The opening round of the 2026 FIM Sidecarcross World Championship took place at Castelnau-de-Levis near Toulouse in France. The entry was a bit disappointing with only 25 teams in attendance, but all the top runners were there including British contenders Dan Foden/ Noah Weinmann, Brett Wilkinson/Joe Millard, Mike Hodges/ Ryan Henderson and Jake Brown/ Christopher Booth. Foden was still recovering from a wrist injury and Marvin Vanluchene was making his first appearance in a WC race since his bout of Covid last year.
In the Group A quali race, Foden/ Weinmann took the holeshot but were taken by the Leferink brothers on the first lap. Wilkinson/ Millard were about fifth whilst Hodges/ Henderson and Brown/ Booth got away badly and were near the back. They were soon joined by defending champion Koen Hermans with his new passenger Dion Rietman who made a mistake ending up dead last.
The Leferinks held the lead comfortably for the duration but the main race was for second and third. Foden/ Weinmann were second with Stephan Wijers/ Joel Hoffmann third and Wilkinson/ Millard fourth. At about half distance Wilkinson/ Millard passed Wijers/ Hoffmann and set off in pursuit of Foden/ Weinmann. They finally caught them with two laps to go and moved into second place. Hermans/ Rietman finally finished in fifth.
The Group B quali race was highly predictable with the local Prunier brothers on good form so far this year and riding on one of their favourite tracks in front of an enthusiastic crowd. Unsurprisingly they won by some distance. Tim Prummer/ Patrick Schneider were second and Davy Sanders/Jens Vincent third. Vanluchene/ De Veene had an awful first lap and were dead last. They finally pulled through to finish seventh.
With only 25 teams there was no LCQ as they had all qualified.
Race day on Sunday was cooler with little sunshine which made it more comfortable for the riders. When the gate dropped, Prunier took the holeshot as expected but immediately behind were three Brits – Wilkinson/ Millard, Hodges/ Henderson and Foden/ Weinmann. Foden/ Weinmann quickly passed Hodges/ Henderson and were now under pressure from the Lielbardis twins. The Latvian challenge only lasted three laps until the gremlins took over.
As the race went on Foden/ Weinmann came under pressure from Hermans/ Rietman, Prummer/ Schneider and the Leferink brothers. Later on, French/ Belgian team Guennady Auvray/ Jarno Steegmans joined in but at about the same time Hermans/ Rietman made a mistake and dropped back. At the front the Pruniers were in a class of their own and went on to win from Wilkinson/ Millard by just over one minute. The Leferink brothers worked their way up to third with Prummer/ Schneider fourth, Auvray/ Steegmans fifth and Foden/ Weinmann sixth. Vanluchene/ De Veene came home in seventh which was a great achievement as this was his first race this year that was longer than 20 minutes. Hodges/ Henderson were 14th but Brown/ Booth failed to score.
The second moto turned out to be a carbon copy at the front with the Pruniers not missing a beat and leading from gate to flag. This time the leading group was led by Hodges/ Henderson to start with just ahead of Foden/ Weinmann and Wilkinson/ Millard. Wilkinson/ Millard were soon overtaken by Auvray/ Steegmans and Vanluchene/ De Veene but they weren’t behind for long and soon took the places back whilst Foden/ Weinmann overtook Hodges/ Henderson.
Hodges/ Henderson then made a mistake and lost places while Foden/ Weinmann suffered from an engine stoppage dropping them back. Wilkinson/ Millard were now comfortably in second place but was now being chased by Prummer/ Schneider. The pressure didn’t last and Brett and Joe soon had a comfortable gap to the German/ Austrian pair.
The Pruniers took the win from Wilkinson/ Millard and Prummer/ Schneider. Hodges/ Henderson were eighth with Foden/ Weinmann having stopped again, came home in 11th. Brown/ Booth pulled out early on.
After one round, the Pruniers lead the championship by seven points from Wilkinson/ Millard with Prummer/ Schneider third. An excellent start for Wilkinson/ Millard and not too bad for Foden/ Weinmann and Hodges/ Henderson. The next round is at Kramolin in the Czech Republic on May 3.
