Prummer/Schneider top podium at German Sidecarcross Grand Prix
By Words: Chris Helm Photos: Bert van der Sluis on 20th Jul 26
Round Eight of the FIM Sidecarcross World Championship took place at Strassbessenbach near Frankfurt in the centre of Germany.
36 teams were in attendance from seven different nations which meant as there were more than 32 entries a last chance session would be needed at the end of Saturday.
In the week before this event, the FIM issued the results of the fuel tests that were carried out in Gdansk, Poland at the beginning of June. The fuel taken from Davy Sanders’ bike was found to be illegal and so he and passenger Jens Vincent were disqualified from the Gdansk results.
Having lost the red plate in the bottomless sand track of Lommel, the French Prunier brothers – Killian and Evan – were looking forward to racing on this track which is more like the French hardpack that they are used to. However, the current championship leaders Marvin Vanluchene/Ben van den Bogaart would be defending their position on a track they both liked.
Six British teams were present including Dan Foden and his German passenger Noah Weinmann. Dan has been out of action for over a month following surgery to his damaged thumb.
In the Group A quali race Sanders/Vincent took the holeshot from Tim Prummer/Patrick Schneider with Vanluchene/Van den Bogaart down in about sixth place. After a few laps Vanluchene/Van den Bogaart were in the lead and Prummer/Schneider had overtaken Sanders/Vincent to take second. On the next lap Vanluchene found a neutral gear on an uphill section and came to a stop. By the time he got going forwards again he was down to eighth place.
The Lielbardis twins – Daniels and Bruno - were now up to second place and challenging Prummer/Schneider but like Vanluchene, managed to find a neutral they didn’t want and lost a position to Vanluchene/Van den Bogaart soon after.
The Group B race had all the British crews in it. The long drag uphill from the start saw Brett Wilkinson/Joe Millard get nudged off line and by the top of the hill they were fourth form the back. The holeshot was taken by the Pruniers with Foden/Weinmann in close attendance. In very few laps Wilkinson/Millard were up to fourth place and not long after he was in third place.
Towards the end of the race he was being hounded by Julian Veldman/Rodolphe Lebreton and on the last lap the Dutch/French pair barged their way past to take third place. Foden/Weinmann finished a tactical eighth after a rock popped out Foden’s goggle lens, Mike Hodges/Ryan Henderson 11th and George Kinge/Liam Hodges 12th. Jack Rogers/Ryan Beavis and Tony Grahame/Jak Watson would have to fight it out in the last chance. Grahame/Watson made it as first reserve, but Rogers/Beavis didn’t make the cut.
On Sunday morning it was slightly cooler with light cloud, and the organisers had done an excellent job overnight preparing the track and laying down enough water to control the dust that was starting to be a nuisance by the end of proceedings on Saturday.
When the gate dropped for the first moto it was Prummer/Schneider who got the holeshot from Tim and Sem Leferink with the Pruniers third. In an amazing fourth place was the Frenchman Guennady Auvray and his Belgian passenger Jarno Steegmans. The red plate holders, Vanluchene/Van den Bogaart were seventh with Foden/Weinmann 10th and Wilkinson/Millard 11th.
By half distance Vanluchene/Van den Bogaart had only improved by one place while the front three remained unchanged although the Pruniers were right in the wheel tracks of the Leferink brothers. With 10 minutes to go the Frenchmen were past the Leferinks while Vanluchene/Van den Bogaart were up to fourth. Further back, Wilkinson/Millard were up to ninth with Foden/Weinmann 11th.
Prummer/Schneider took the win from the Prunier and Leferink brothers with Vanluchene/Van den Bogaart fourth while the Brits slipped - Wilkinson/Millard to 11th and Foden/Weinmann 12th.
In race two, Vanluchene/Van den Bogaart made up for their poor start in the first race and took the lead up the long start straight and never looked back. Marvin and Ben were in total control for the whole 35 minutes and took the win and also second place on the final podium. First race winners, Prummer/Schneider started second and went on to finish second giving them the overall win on the day – Prummer’s first ever.
The Pruniers got a bad start, down in about 10th place but immediately started to move up the leaderboard until he came up behind the Leferinks. In their efforts to get past, driver Killian stalled the engine on a tight uphill righthander and the pair lost ground. They recovered well but could not do any better than finish fourth. Another team with a not very good start was the Veldman/Lebreton pairing and as they worked their way through the field, passenger Lebreton stepped off the back of the platform and by the time he remounted they had lost many places. On lap seven their race was finished.
Of the left-handed outfits Foden/Weinmann got a good start and were initially in seventh place while Wilkinson/Millard were back in 14th. Hard charges moved them up to fifth and sixth respectively.
The next round is next weekend (July 25/26) at Madona in Latvia where Vanluchene/Van den Bogaart will be hoping to increase the 28-point lead they have over the Pruniers. But with the Lielbardis twins on home ground, they will be looking for a podium finish if not the overall victory.
