It's that time of year again, when the individual titles have been fought for and won over a long hard season, we turn our eyes towards the annual inter-nation team competition.
This year we are headed for the south-western side of France to the Dardon Gueugnon track locate around 130 kilometres north of Lyon.
The track has a colourful history with both classes, having hosted this event three times previously as well as being a major player in the Sidecarcross golden era of the early 2000's.
The FIM Sidecarcross World Championship has visited the venue in recent years, so the track is well known to the contemporary teams, all of whom are delighted to return.
Strong teams from nine nations feature in the official pre-entry list, with Belgium fielding their newly crowned champion Marvin Vanluchene with Ben van den Bogaart alongside. They are joined by Davy Sanders/Jens Vincent and Niels Hendrickx/Tayim Kaethoven.
The Netherlands too have strength in depth with the Leferink brothers lining up with Veldman/Lebreton andGrondman/Vincent.
Previous race-winner Dan Foden joins Mike Hodges and Brett Wilkinson with their regular passengers, and are aiming to score big for Great Britain. If recent results from this trio are a guide, then they will again be a force to be reckoned with.
The same is true of team France, and they are in front of the home crowd. The Prunier brothers will have shaken off their GP blues and join Carcreff/Hupon and Auvray/Steegmans in a serious tilt at the title.
The full entry list is available on the FIM website and includes teams from Estonia, Switzerland, Italy, Germany and Denmark.
With the Quads now having completed their inaugural world championship, there is a new emphasis on the class, with the USA once again fielding a top team.
Joel Hetrick leads the charge with Max Lindquist and young Zack Decker completing the line-up. Decker fairly blew everyone away this year in Gdansk, so he is one to watch.
Estonia have new world champion Kevin Saar on board, lining up with Karl Robin Rillo and Rasmus Sona. This will be a quick team.
Twelve teams form the Quad entry as we go to press, and that too is available on the FIM website.
All qualifying and team races will be live-streamed on FIM-MOTO.TV with a highlights show to follow. Make sure you but your weekend pass so as not to miss this end-of-season extravaganza.
All other updates and news will be here on www.fimsidecarcross.com as well as all our regular Social Media outlets
From Barry Nutley
