Joris 'The Joker' Hendrickx
Hello MX and sidecar fans. If the season was already well under way in the previous column, we are now completely at warp speed! A lot has happened in the meantime. We have completed three GPs and a BC competition. And we are in the lead in both the World Cup and the Belgian Championship! That is really good because we have worked very hard this winter. We can even safely say that we have made a nice step forward compared to last season. Before the season, both I and Kaspars still had doubts. Even if you have done your homework, you never know how things will turn out in practice. Moreover, the first GP in Oldebroek was disappointing.
The second GP in Langrish went a lot better. At the start of the first series we were in the lead, but in a duel with our Jan we were pushed out, so we could only start the race in tenth place. Then we are out of 10de to the 4de drove place. That's how we ended up behind Willemsen. When we attacked a jump, we fell just a little short and were catapulted off! That was a pretty big blow because we were both out and so we were literally back to square one. We moved from tenth place to fourth place, but we did not get past Willemsen and finished in his wheel(s).
Overtaking was not so easy in Langrish and we learned our lesson for the second series. We were better off around fourth or fifth place and were able to move up quickly. We also did not let Daniël (Willemsen) catch us anymore. We took the lead on the second lap and were then able to pull away easily. So we quickly grabbed 15 to 20 seconds. The first series victory of the season was in the pocket, phew! In the final standings we were second in southern England.
The third GP was actually a bit of a home race, because with 21 km, Plomion in France is certainly one of the closest World Cup races. A lot of supporters had come and that only made it more fun! The weekend started well with a victory in the qualifying series on Saturday. Then the sun was still shining and there didn't seem to be a speck in the sky. The next day the track was much more dangerous because the rain had poured down on Saturday and Sunday. We finished third in the first series, we quickly passed the Daiders brothers and drove to Willemsen-Eggink. We dueled for a while, but overtaking was extremely difficult due to the circumstances. We also quickly had zero grip on the rear tire. Due to the coarse stones, the studs were completely gone after just a few laps! Rarely experienced in the rain. That's why we just finished the race quietly in second place. In the second series we took the holeshot. It had started raining again between the heats, but in addition to the lack of grip, we also had to pay attention to the wear on the tires. We were able to build a nice lead of 25 seconds towards the halfway point of the race and after that it was time to control the race... on our slicks! In terms of piloting skills, I was able to indulge myself in the second series because it was damn difficult to maintain the speed to get up and through everything and to avoid the stranded teams before or on the high climb. The teams that tumbled back down were certainly not only the lesser gods, but also Brown-Peters and Hendrickx-Smeuninx were having it. Before things got out of hand, the race management decided to flag early. In any case, we were happy with the French GP because we had achieved our first overall victory. All questions after Oldebroek had disappeared permanently.
Because we started the season with a new block, you are extra critical if things don't go as expected. Was the engine powerful enough? Have we made the right choices? Fortunately, all those questions received an affirmative answer. Actually, we haven't changed much since Oldebroek. And to be honest, the season started a little too early, but you can't completely control that. Sometimes you are waiting for material or certain pieces just don't arrive.
The Thursday before the fourth GP in Cingoli, Italy, we also rode in France, namely Reims. We won all three series there, but the last series in particular will stay with me for a long time. We were in a fierce duel with Rupeiks-Stupelis and on a slippery stretch before the finish we tried to continue on the inside. Until, to our astonishment, we saw someone in the distance ready with the finish flag! I didn't realize that the match was already over, because I thought we were now entering the final round! That's why I turned everything up to still take the win. We just managed to beat Rupeiks-Stupelis with a tire thickness. We had thrown ourselves like a racing driver doing a final jump! This made it impossible for us to steer properly into the next bend and we braced ourselves to fly into the side! Fortunately it was our spare team because the front fork was quite crooked, but when we got off in one piece, the audience was very enthusiastic. What a race!
Just a few days after Reims, Cingoli was always going to be tough, but now it was very extreme. You expect it differently, and especially sunnier in Italy, but heavy rain almost caused the GP to be cancelled. In the end everything went ahead as normal, but it was certainly not a super GP for us. In the first series we finished fifth. Steegmans-Verbugge came into contact with Scherbinin for us and that is why we were also stuck. Five or six combinations crossed and in the meantime Hendrickx-Smeuninx had free play at the front. There was no more than a second place possible. We also came second in the second series.
You have to see how it went during the second BC competition in Westdorpe here just see! Although we are now at the top of the World Cup standings, that doesn't say much. A lot can still happen and there are four teams - us, Willemsen-Eggink, Rupeiks-Stupelis and Hendrickx-Smeuninx - that are very evenly matched. The next GPs are therefore very important. The Polish GP in Wschowa is scheduled for this weekend (5 and 6 June). That is a new course, so we don't really know what to expect from it. This is followed by Ukraine, a circuit that certainly suits us and where we came second last year. Also two long-distance moves. The mileage eaters have left again!
Sporty regards and see you next time,
The Joker
PS If you want to see top sidecar cross of the highest order and cheer on the Belgians, you should definitely keep July 4 free, when the Belgian GP at the Horensbergdam in Genk is on the calendar. Really do it, you won't regret it!
Photos credit: André Verhoeven, sidecarcross.be
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