2015 Sidecarcross World Championship

rdf:langString 2015 Sidecarcross World Championship

rdf:langString Netherlands

rdf:langString Etienne Bax - Kaspars Stupelis

rdf:langString The 2015 FIM Sidecarcross World Championship, the 36th edition of the competition, started on 6 April and finished after fifteen events on 20 September 2015. The defending champions were Ben Adriaenssen from Belgium and his Dutch passenger Ben van den Bogaart, who won the 2013 and 2014 World championships together. Adriaenssen suffered a foot injury during the fourth Grand Prix of the season, at the time sitting in second place of the World Championship, and was forced to miss the remainder of the season. Van den Bogaart later rejoined the series at the seventh round, partnering Belgian rider Jan Hendrickx. The 2015 World Championship was won by Etienne Bax and Kaspars Stupelis. Second placed, 96 points behind, was French rider Valentin Giraud, who was partnered by compatriot Nicolas Musset for most of the season; however, Latvia's Elvijs Mucenieks partnered Giraud at the final three events of the season as Musset suffered a foot injury. Third place – on equal points with Giraud and his partners – went to Hendrickx, who was partnered by Mucenieks for the first six races and van den Bogaart for the remainder of the season. The Sidecarcross World Championship, first held in 1980 and organised by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, is an annual competition. All races, manufacturers and the vast majority of riders in the competition being in and from Europe. Sidecarcross is similar to motocross except that the teams consist of two riders, a driver and a passenger. Races are held on the same tracks as solo motocross but the handling of the machines differs as sidecars do not lean. The majority of physical work in the sport is carried out by the passenger, who speeds up the sidecarcross in corners by leaning out. The coordination between the driver and the passenger are therefore of highest importance.