Kaspars Liepiņš
Encyclopedia
Kaspars Liepiņš is a Latvia
n sidecarcross
rider and the 2009
World Champion
, won as the passenger of the Belgian
Joris Hendrickx
.
Kaspars Liepiņš made his world championship debut on 9 April 2007, in the first race of the season, alongside fellow Latvian Karlis Leimanis. In their first race, they finished only 26th but managed to win three points in race two of the event, the Dutch GP at Oldebroek
. The duo took part in the first four of eight events that season, with a sixteenth place their best result and an overall finish of 33rd.
The following season, Liepiņš teamed up with Joris Hendrickx and earned considerably more success, coming fourth overall and winning the Belgian national championship.
The 2009 season was initially dominated by Daniël Willemsen
, who had won the previous six world championships. When Willemsen missed a number of races because of injury, Jan Hendrickx took the lead in the competition. At the German GP at Strassbessenbach
, Hendrickx/Liepiņš took out their first race win and also their first Grand Prix victory. With one event, the GP at Rudersberg
, to go, Joris Hendrickx and Kaspars Liepins were 13 points behind the leaders Jan Hendrickx / Tim Smeuninx, in second place, but the leading combination suffered an engine defect in round four of the first race in Germany and lost all its advantage. A win and a second place in the last event earned the Belgian / Latvian combination the world title, with Joris Hendrickx becoming only the second Belgian to do so, after Sven Verbrugge
, and the first Belgian driver to record this achievement. Kaspars Liepiņš, in turn, is the fourth Latvian with world championship honours in the sport.
The Belgian-Latvian combination Hendrickx-Liepins suffered a season-ending injury at the qualifying of the German Grand Prix in July 2011, being able to compete in the race but requiring surgery afterwards. Consequently, the team only finished ninth in the overall standings at the end of the season.
Source:
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
n sidecarcross
Sidecarcross
Sidecar-cross racing, also known as sidecar motocross, is very similar to regular, solo motocross but with a different type of motorcycle chassis, and with a team of two people riding together instead of one, a driver and a passenger. While not confirmed most articles seem to show Sidecarcross...
rider and the 2009
2009 Sidecarcross world championship
The 2009 FIM Sidecarcross world championship, the 30th edition of the competition, started on 29 March and finished after thirteen race weekends on 13 September 2009....
World Champion
Sidecarcross world championship
The Sidecar Motocross World Championship is an annual event, organised by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme , held since 1980. Previous to that, a European competition was held from 1971 onwards....
, won as the passenger of the Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
Joris Hendrickx
Joris Hendrickx
Joris Hendrickx is a Belgian sidecarcross rider and the 2009 World Champion, together with his passenger, the Latvian Kaspars Liepiņš....
.
Sidecarcross results
Kaspars Liepiņš took part in sidecarcross races in the national Latvian championship from 2003, at first as passenger for U. Zvaigznitis, and, from 2004, on the side of Karlis Leimanis.Kaspars Liepiņš made his world championship debut on 9 April 2007, in the first race of the season, alongside fellow Latvian Karlis Leimanis. In their first race, they finished only 26th but managed to win three points in race two of the event, the Dutch GP at Oldebroek
Oldebroek
Oldebroek is a municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands and it has almost 6000 inhabitants.-Population centres:Bovenveen, Eekt, Hattemerbroek, Kerkdorp, 't Loo, Mullegen, Noordeinde, Oldebroek, Oosterwolde, Posthoorn, Voskuil and Wezep.-Sport:...
. The duo took part in the first four of eight events that season, with a sixteenth place their best result and an overall finish of 33rd.
The following season, Liepiņš teamed up with Joris Hendrickx and earned considerably more success, coming fourth overall and winning the Belgian national championship.
The 2009 season was initially dominated by Daniël Willemsen
Daniël Willemsen
Daniël Johan Nico Willemsen is a Dutch sidecarcross rider and eight times World Champion.Willemsen is the most successful rider in sidecarcross history, winning the title nine times, in 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2011...
, who had won the previous six world championships. When Willemsen missed a number of races because of injury, Jan Hendrickx took the lead in the competition. At the German GP at Strassbessenbach
Bessenbach
Bessenbach is a community in the Aschaffenburg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany.-Location:Bessenbach lies southeast of the town of Aschaffenburg among the Spessart range's outliers....
, Hendrickx/Liepiņš took out their first race win and also their first Grand Prix victory. With one event, the GP at Rudersberg
Rudersberg
Rudersberg is a municipality in the Rems-Murr district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located 10 km southeast of Backnang, and 28 km northeast of Stuttgart.-Sport:...
, to go, Joris Hendrickx and Kaspars Liepins were 13 points behind the leaders Jan Hendrickx / Tim Smeuninx, in second place, but the leading combination suffered an engine defect in round four of the first race in Germany and lost all its advantage. A win and a second place in the last event earned the Belgian / Latvian combination the world title, with Joris Hendrickx becoming only the second Belgian to do so, after Sven Verbrugge
Sven Verbrugge
Sven Verbrugge is a Belgian sidecarcross passenger and triple Sidecarcross World Champion, winning the title in 2005, 2006 and 2011....
, and the first Belgian driver to record this achievement. Kaspars Liepiņš, in turn, is the fourth Latvian with world championship honours in the sport.
The Belgian-Latvian combination Hendrickx-Liepins suffered a season-ending injury at the qualifying of the German Grand Prix in July 2011, being able to compete in the race but requiring surgery afterwards. Consequently, the team only finished ninth in the overall standings at the end of the season.
Season by season
Kaspars Liepiņš sidecarcross world championship statistics:| Season | Driver | Equipment | Position | Points | Races | Wins | Second | Third |
| 2007 2007 Sidecarcross world championship The 2007 FIM Sidecarcross world championship,the 28th edition of the competition, started on 9 April and finished after eight race weekends on 16 September 2007 with Daniël Willemsen taking out the title once more-Overview:... |
 Karlis Leimanis |
KTM KTM KTM Sportmotorcycle AG is an Austrian motorcycle, bicycle and moped manufacturer.The company was founded in 1934 by engineer Hans Trunkenpolz in Mattighofen. It started out as a metal working shop and was named Kraftfahrzeuge Trunkenpolz Mattighofen... -AYR AYR AYR is an Estonian Sidecarcross frame manufacturer, competing in the sports world championship.The most prominent team in the 2008 world championship to use an AYR frame is the former world champions Kristers Sergis / Kaspars Stupelis. AYR has yet to win a world championship.-History:The company... |
33 | 17 | 8 | — | — | — |
| 2008 2008 Sidecarcross world championship 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... |
 Joris Hendrickx |
KTM-AYR | 4 | 394 | 24 | — | 2 | 2 |
| 2009 2009 Sidecarcross world championship The 2009 FIM Sidecarcross world championship, the 30th edition of the competition, started on 29 March and finished after thirteen race weekends on 13 September 2009.... |
Joris Hendrickx |
KTM-VMC | 1 | 483 | 26 | 2 | 7 | 10 |
| 2010 2010 Sidecarcross World Championship The 2010 FIM Sidecarcross World Championship, the 31st edition of the competition, started on 5 April and finished after fourteen race weekends on 12 September 2010.The defending champions were Joris Hendrickx from Belgium and Kaspars Liepins from Latvia... |
Joris Hendrickx |
KTM-VMC | 2 | 547 | 28 | 6 | 12 | 2 |
| 2011 2011 Sidecarcross World Championship The 2011 FIM Sidecarcross World Championship, the 32nd edition of the competition, started on 3 April and finished after thirteen race weekends on 11 September 2011.... |
Joris Hendrickx |
KTM-VMC | 9 | 315 | 16 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
| Overall 2007 - 2011 | 1,762 | 102 | 10 | 27 | 16 |
Source:
- Passengers in italics.
External links
- Official website
- Blakusvāģi: Kaspars Liepiņš - pasaules čempions Article on the championship-winning race in 2009
- The World Championship on Sidecarcross.com
- The John Davey Grand Prix Pages - Results of all GP's up until 2005