2008 Sidecarcross World Championship

Template:Sidecarcross world championship season 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.

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:

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:

Date	Place	Race winners	GP winner
20 April	Template:Flagicon Oss	Template:Flagicon Kristers Sergis / Kaspars Stupelis	Template:Flagicon Jan Hendrickx / Tim Smeuninx
		Template:Flagicon Jan Hendrickx / Tim Smeuninx
11 May	Template:Flagicon Jinín	Template:Flagicon Daniël Willemsen / Template:Flagicon Reto Grütter	Template:Flagicon Daniël Willemsen / Template:Flagicon Reto Grütter
		Template:Flagicon Daniël Willemsen / Template:Flagicon Reto Grütter
18 May	Template:Flagicon Chernivtsi	Template:Flagicon Kristers Sergis / Kaspars Stupelis	Template:Flagicon Kristers Sergis / Kaspars Stupelis
		Template:Flagicon Daniël Willemsen / Template:Flagicon Reto Grütter
1 June	Template:Flagicon Cingoli	Template:Flagicon Daniël Willemsen / Template:Flagicon Reto Grütter	Template:Flagicon Daniël Willemsen / Template:Flagicon Reto Grütter
		Template:Flagicon Daniël Willemsen / Template:Flagicon Reto Grütter
8 June	Template:Flagicon Bourg-Bruche	Template:Flagicon Daniël Willemsen / Template:Flagicon Reto Grütter	Template:Flagicon Daniël Willemsen / Template:Flagicon Reto Grütter
		Template:Flagicon Daniël Willemsen / Template:Flagicon Reto Grütter
13 July	Template:Flagicon Genk	Template:Flagicon Daniël Willemsen / Template:Flagicon Reto Grütter	Template:Flagicon Daniël Willemsen / Template:Flagicon Reto Grütter
		Template:Flagicon Daniël Willemsen / Template:Flagicon Reto Grütter
20 July	Template:Flagicon Strassbessenbach	Template:Flagicon Daniël Willemsen / Template:Flagicon Reto Grütter	Template:Flagicon Kristers Sergis / Kaspars Stupelis
		Template:Flagicon Kristers Sergis / Kaspars Stupelis
3 August	Template:Flagicon Slagelse	Template:Flagicon Daniël Willemsen / Template:Flagicon Reto Grütter	Template:Flagicon Daniël Willemsen / Template:Flagicon Reto Grütter
		Template:Flagicon Daniël Willemsen / Template:Flagicon Reto Grütter
10 August	Template:Flagicon Kegums	Template:Flagicon Daniël Willemsen / Template:Flagicon Reto Grütter	Template:Flagicon Maris Rupeiks / Haralds Kurpnieks
		Template:Flagicon Kristers Sergis / Kaspars Stupelis
17 August	Template:Flagicon Kiviõli	Template:Flagicon Daniël Willemsen / Template:Flagicon Reto Grütter	Template:Flagicon Daniël Willemsen / Template:Flagicon Reto Grütter
		Template:Flagicon Daniël Willemsen / Template:Flagicon Reto Grütter
7 September	Template:Flagicon Dardon Guegnon	Template:Flagicon Daniël Willemsen / Template:Flagicon Reto Grütter	Template:Flagicon Daniël Willemsen / Template:Flagicon Reto Grütter
		Template:Flagicon Daniël Willemsen / Template:Flagicon Reto Grütter
14 September	Template:Flagicon Rudersberg	Template:Flagicon Daniël Willemsen / Template:Flagicon Reto Grütter	Template:Flagicon Daniël Willemsen / Template:Flagicon Reto Grütter
		Template:Flagicon Daniël Willemsen / Template:Flagicon Reto Grütter
28 September	Template:Flagicon Genk	Template:Flagicon 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:

Position	Driver / Passenger	Equipment	Bike No	Points
1	Template:Flagicon Daniël Willemsen / Template:Flagicon Reto Grütter	Zabel-VMC	1	531
2	Template:Flagicon Kristers Sergis / Kaspars Stupelis	KTM-AYR	3	434
3	Template:Flagicon Jan Hendrickx / Tim Smeuninx	Zabel-VMC	2	421
4	Template:Flagicon Joris Hendrickx / Template:Flagicon Kaspars Liepins	KTM-AYR	8	394
5	Template:Flagicon Marko Happich / Template:Flagicon Meinrad Schelbert	Zabel-MEFO	7	317
6	Template:Flagicon Maris Rupeiks / Haralds Kurpnieks	KTM-AYR	6	297
7	Template:Flagicon Vaclav Rozehnal / Marek Rozehnal	Zabel-VMC	5	273
8	Template:Flagicon Janis Daiders / Lauris Daiders	KTM-AYR	10	269
9	Template:Flagicon Nicky Pulinx / Template:Flagicon Ondrej Cermak	Zabel-VMC	14	244
10	Template:Flagicon 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:

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:

	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	Template:Flagicon Daniël Willemsen / Template:Flagicon 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	Template:Flagicon 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	Template:Flagicon 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	Template:Flagicon Joris Hendrickx / Template:Flagicon 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	Template:Flagicon Marko Happich / Template:Flagicon 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	Template:Flagicon 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	Template:Flagicon 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	Template:Flagicon 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	Template:Flagicon Nicky Pulinx / Template:Flagicon 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	Template:Flagicon 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	Template:Flagicon Marcel Willemsen / Template:Flagicon 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	Template:Flagicon 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	Template:Flagicon 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	Template:Flagicon 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	Template:Flagicon 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	Template:Flagicon Peter Steegmans / Dagwin Sabbe	Zabel-WSP	40	115	20	17					x	9			5	5	7	4	x	x	12	x	9	8
17	Template:Flagicon Stuart Brown / Luke Peters *	Zabel-VMC	24	108	18	9					11	x	3	13	13	17	20	x							x	8	6	7
18	Template:Flagicon 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	Template:Flagicon Kristof Santermans / Template:Flagicon 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	Template:Flagicon Henrik Söderqvist / Tobias Sylwan	Husaberg-AYR	11	89			x	3											3	3					15		9	10
21	Template:Flagicon 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	Template:Flagicon 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	Template:Flagicon 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	Template:Flagicon 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	Template:Flagicon 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	Template:Flagicon Andy Bürgler / Template:Flagicon Daniel Fagerberg	KTM-VMC	4	31	9	10											13	x
27	Template:Flagicon Andreas Clohse / Template:Flagicon Robbie Bax	JAWA-VMC	28	27							x	16	14	x			x	x			20	14	x	x	18	17	x	x
28	Template:Flagicon Josef Brustmann / Stefan Urich	KTM-NPM	29	25													16	7									x	15
29	Template:Flagicon Patrick Fagerberg / Daniel Fagerberg	KTM-AYR	122	24			18	17							x	x			20	15	x	15	x	17
30	Template:Flagicon Jan Visscher / Jeroen Visscher	Zabel-VMC	38	21	7	x																			20	16		20
31	Template:Flagicon Josua Luscher / Markus Gloor	Husaberg-VMC	87	21							x	17	20	11			19	17
32	Template:Flagicon Bertram Martin / Template:Flagicon Bruno Kaelin	Zabel-VMC	68	21							x	x	x	16			x	12									x	14
33	Template:Flagicon Scott Wilkinson / Gary Burt	Zabel-VMC	19	18	x	14							x	x	17	x	x	x									17	18
34	Template:Flagicon Gert Godejev / Keit Kivaste	KTM-AYR	151	16			20	19	18	x											x	17	20	16
35	Template:Flagicon Daniel Millard / Joe Millard	Husaberg-WSP	99	13							x	18	x	x	18	x			15	x					x	20
36	Template:Flagicon Wim Janssen / Bart Notten	Zabel-VMC	55	9	15	18
37	Template:Flagicon Tomas Cermak / Ondrej Cermak	JAWA-MEFO	9	8	x	13
38	Template:Flagicon Jens Bochmann / Sandro Michelotto	KTM-VMC	69	5			x	x	19	x							18	x
39	Template:Flagicon Urmas Sugasep / Veiko Parksepp	KTM-AYR	911	5											20	x			19	x			19	x
40	Template:Flagicon Patrick Greup / Roy Derks *	MTH-VMC	111	4	x	x													17	x
41	Template:Flagicon Benjamin Daniel / Guennady Auveray	Husaberg-VMC	116	4																					x	18	20	x
42	Template:Flagicon Dmitry Anochin / Maxim Scherbak	Zabel-MEFO	142	3					20	19
43	Template:Flagicon Oskars Liepiņš / Ilvars Ameļkins	KTM-AYR	45	2																	x	x	x	19
44	Template:Flagicon Sonny Van Niewenhuse / Birger Beernaert	Husaberg-VMC	132	2											19	x
45	Template:Flagicon Kert Varik / Erkki Koiv	KTM-AYR	39	2	x	19											x	x			x
46	Template:Flagicon Sverre Lamp / Alar Lamp	KTM-AYR	50	1																	x	x	x	20
47	Template:Flagicon Argo Poldsaar / Indrek Aljes	KTM-AYR	48	1																	x	20
48	Template:Flagicon Gert van Werven / Rick Sellis	KTM-VMC	89	1									x	20													x	x
49	Template:Flagicon Liutauras Variakois / Template:Flagicon Artūrs Linters	KTM-AYR	57	1					x	20											x	x
50	Template:Flagicon Anton Wanger / Template:Flagicon Michael Gabor	MTH-MEFO	52	1			x	20
	Template:Flagicon Geert Devoldere / Template:Flagicon Edouard Chereau	Husaberg-MEFO	25	0	x	x			x	x	x	x
	Template:Flagicon Johan Smit / Peter Holleman	Zabel-BSU	115	0	x	x	x	x
	Template:Flagicon Romas Kišūnas / Mantas Kišūnas	Zabel-BSU	60	0			x	x
	Template:Flagicon Willi Lieble / Template:Flagicon Vaclav Hotovy	MEFO	65	0			x	x
	Template:Flagicon Sonnie Folkesson / Mattias Andersson	MTH-MEFO	172	0			x	x
	Template:Flagicon Jaroslav Kriz / Milan Gazik	MTH-EML	112	0			x	x
	Template:Flagicon Andre Michel Bernard / Jacques Pillier	VMC	82	0					x	x									x	x		x			x	x
	Template:Flagicon Vadim Briuhov / Vitaly Babic	Zabel	84	0					x	x
	Template:Flagicon Vasyl Kolisnichenko / Dmitro Sorokin	BSU	83	0					x	x
	Template:Flagicon Sergei Ivanov / Atho Jalas	AYR	53	0					x	x
	Template:Flagicon Oleh Kuklin / Vasyl Nesterenko	MEFO	85	0					x	x
	Template:Flagicon Dmytro Grychanuk / Oleksandr Litovchenko	BSU	86	0					x
	Template:Flagicon Valeriy Starchenko / Evhen Potanin	VMC	81	0						x
	Template:Flagicon Mark Kinge / Gary Kinge	KTM-VMC	71	0							x	x							x	x					x	x
	Template:Flagicon Marko Schulz / Template:Flagicon Mario Meusburger	Zabel-VMC	72	0							x	x
	Template:Flagicon Kevin Bitsche / Johannes Vonbun	Zabel-WSP	67	0							x	x	x	x
	Template:Flagicon Jean-Marie Ains / Bernard Jayet	MEFO	37	0									x	x											x	x
	Template:Flagicon Andy Eastman / Steve Krwin	KTM-VMC	36	0											x	x
	Template:Flagicon Robin Karlsson / Richard Karlsson	AYR	118	0															x	x
	Template:Flagicon Madis Olt / Tõnu Valdma	AYR	70	0																		x
	Template:Flagicon Marko Dammert / Mika Hietala	AYR	96	0																			x	x
	Template:Flagicon Florian Blanco / Vincent Blanco	Husaberg	117	0																					x	x
	Template:Flagicon Herve Boursaud / Emeric Poirier	VMC	78	0																					x
	Template:Flagicon Patrik Gorardin / Dominique Desplaces	VMC	113	0																						x
	Template:Flagicon 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.
• 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.
• 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.

External links

• The World Championship on Sidecarcross.com
• The John Davey Grand Prix Pages – Results of all GP's up until 2005
• FIM Sidecar Motocross World Championship 2010