Bax/Stupelis triumphantly win the ONK sidecar cross in Oss!
Etienne Bax and Kaspar Stupelis managed to win the ONK sidecar cross in Oss. Bax was clearly the strongest, winning twice. Hermans came second in the daily total and team Willemsen third. In terms of total points, Willemsen and Hermans had a draw, both finished second and third in a heat. However, Hermans was ahead of Willemsen in the second heat and that was the deciding factor for the positions on the podium.
26 combinations had registered in Oss for the third ONK, which actually became the second, as no heats were held during the actual second ONK in Valkenswaard due to sad circumstances.
ONK leader Brown was not on appeal due to a double calendar and so direct followers in the ONK stand, Willemsen and Hermans, were keen to take over the first place. The other combinations were also on the ropes and with a beautiful summery sun, people in Oss were preparing for a hot afternoon.
1st Round
Just around half past one the circus started for the first heat. Julian Veldman put his AMS Husqvarna under tight control and the greatest artist of them all took the holeshot ahead of Willemsen, Bax and Van Werven with a sidecar length lead. Veldman, in action with the Belgian baking player Glenn Janssens, was able to hold the lead for a long time. However, halfway through the heat it was over. Bax came to press Veldman after he had first had to deal with team Willemsen. Veldman held his ground for a number of laps but was then unable to keep the unleashed Bax behind him. At that point in the race, Willemsen was third, with Hermans/Musset well behind. These had managed to break away from a group with Van Werven, Vanluchene, Van de Boomen and Closhe. Behind this a battle between Greup/Visser and Mulders/Van de Wiel and then again at a distance behind this a family dispute between Justin Keuben/Rietman and Mike Keuben/De Laat.
After grabbing the lead, Bax drove a short distance away from Veldman who clearly could not follow completely. Bax/Stupelis drove decisively to the finish and, after a strange preseason, finally convincingly took first place in a heat.
Veldman tried hard not to lose sight of Bax too much, and since this was the first race together with baking player Glenn Janssens, one could be satisfied if the guy would finish second. However, this did not happen! Suddenly thick blue smoke plumes from Veldman's machine, after which the block finally collapsed within a few tens of seconds. End of exercise for the visibly disappointed Veldman and Janssens!
Willemsen/Bax suddenly took second place and this also applied to Hermans/Musset who arrived at the finish in third place. At four we saw Van Werven/Mans enter. They were under pressure from the competition behind them for almost the entire heat. They did get some breathing space when they were more adept at passing the many stragglers on a difficult track in Oss, but Van den Boomen was never far away on five and at a certain point Van den Boomen suddenly got Van den Boomen on the rope. had managed to pass and was clearly looking forward to more. However, Vanluchene/Van den Boogaart suddenly fell back a bit and Van Werven was able to finish fourth, with Van den Boomen/Van Gaalen behind them at five. Vanluchene then took sixth place at the finish with Closhe/Van Hal a reasonable distance away in seventh. Then we had to wait for Mulders/Van der Wiel who came in solo at eight after Greup/Visser was seen dropping out halfway due to a broken steering damper. Mike Keuben then won the battle with his cousin Justin Keuben for ninth place. For a long time it looked like Justin would beat Mike, but the race turned in favor of Keuben/De Laat, who finished ninth, with Keuben/Rietman just behind in ten.
2e some
At the end of the day the program was overrun again and the second heat started with a forty minute delay. Already at the starting gate, Keuben/Rietman had mechanical trouble and they watched with horror as the entire field rushed away from them with a holeshot for Hermans with Van Werven next to them.
They couldn't enjoy first place for long because Bax/Stupelis quickly took the lead. As in the first heat, they were able to impose their will on everyone and finally dominate the daily total in Oss by once again finishing first in the second heat with just under ten seconds ahead of Hermans/Musset, who was once again driving well and riding well, who would come second. become. Behind this Willemsen/Bax came third, although they were involved in a hot battle with Vanluchene in fourth and Veldman in fifth. However, Willemsen/Bax had the luck of the weather gods and the race management!
Just when Willemsen/Bax were passed by both Veldman and Vanluchene, the red flag went out just a few minutes before the official time expired.
The result is then taken as the passage of the finish during the previous lap and at that time Willemsen was still in third place with Vanluchene in fourth and Veldman in fifth. These three sidecars would also be included in the results of the second heat.
Fortunately, this time the red flag was not because a nasty crash had happened, but because Pluvius showed up above the Witte Ruij hill in Oss! And how!
After all, it seemed like typical summer and those summers in the Netherlands are unfortunately sometimes characterized by a real cloudburst. That was exactly the case!
In a rapidly changing setting, the sidecar cross heroes continued with what they had to do, but the audience quickly rushed to drier places under trees, the party tent or wherever. When a little later an attentive spectator called down a cameraman positioned high on a scaffolding for approaching heavy thunderstorms, it turned out that nothing was too much to say. The sidecars flowed in just in time before it really started thundering over Oss and the conditions became too dangerous for drivers, drivers, media and the public.
Under these heroic circumstances we saw Van Werven/Mans pass the red flag in sixth place. Finally for a day they were not plagued by bad luck and they were able to return home satisfied with this sixth and the previous fourth place. Closhe/Van Hal came seventh, who at that moment were ready to counter the on-rush Keuben/De Laat. However, the red flag came and Closhe/Van Hal were classified seventh and Mike Keuben/Lars de Laat were classified eighth. Mulders would then finish at nine, with Roes/Sabbe at ten.
The standings for the Dutch sidecar cross title are particularly exciting after this race in Oss with Willemsen/Bax, Hermans/Musset and Bax/Stupelis within four points of each other.
On Whit Monday, May 20, the battle continues in the Achterhoekse Varsseveld.
Photo: www.orangehat.nl
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