Daniël Willemsen
Encyclopedia
Daniël Johan Nico Willemsen (born 7 May 1975 in Lochem
, Gelderland
) 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
. He has also won the Dutch national sidecarcross championship nine times, winning it last in 2008 and the Belgian championship twice.
For his success in motor sport he was made a member of the Order of Orange-Nassau
in 2005. His home town Lochem also has named a street after him in 2005.
In 2007, he took part in the Dakar Rally
, finishing tenth in the solo motorcycle class. To make up for the canceled Dakar Rally 2008, he took part in the Tuareq Rally in March/April 2008, winning the race.
Willemsen's sidecar experience started in 1981, when he and his brother Marcel
, aged six and four, drove in a home-made Hond 50 cc side car, under the guidance of their father Berry, who had also been a sidecar racer. However, it took the brothers another ten years before they were allowed to take part in sidecar races.
The two brothers entered the senior Dutch championship in 1994, but were barred from racing together in the World Championship because Marcel was not yet 18 years old and Daniël had to find a different passenger instead. Marcel joined his brother in this competition 1995, when he was finally old enough. After teaming up with his brother in 1995, who later became a world championship rider in his own right, his track record started to improve. The two brothers won their first race on 12 May 1996 when they won race two in Baugé
, France
.
After finishing third in 1997, suffering a bad accident at the German GP, and second in 1998, the two won their first world championship in 1999, taking it out by one point and beating the then current champions Kristers Sergis
/ Artis Rasmanis
.
In February 2000, the two brothers had a serious accident in a training run in Italy, which saw Marcel temporarily parallised and unable to continue his career. In his stead, for the next two seasons, Sven Verbrugge
from Belgium
became Daniël's partner and the two finished second in the overall standing in 2000 and 2001. 2002 saw a repeat of this result, now with Alfons Eggers as his passenger. With Kaspars Stupelis
from Latvia
as his partner, he won the 2003 and 2004 world championship. Sven Verbrugge returned for the 2005 and 2006 season and they took out two more world championships together. In 2007, the Swiss Reto Grütter was Daniël's partner and with him he won his record sixth title. In the 2008 season, Willemsen again raced with Reto Grütter as his partner. An injury prevented Grütter from taking part in the first race of the season and Willemsen replaced him with Bruno Kaelin for the first round. In race fourteen of the season, the team was disqualified after winning the race due to Grütter losing a glove, after a protest by Kristers Sergis. The duo won the 2008 championship convincingly, with a 97 point gap to the second-placed Kristers Sergis.
For the 2009 World Championship, Willemsen was teaming up in the first GP with Belgian passenger Dagwin Sabbe, continuing his habit of changing passengers at regular interval. From the second event onwards, he used veteran passenger Sven Verbrugge once more. On 5 July 2009, Willemsen broke his collar bone
in a Dutch championship race, ruling him out of racing in a decisive phase of the world championship, just before the end of a summer break in the competition. The duo missed the three following events, thereby losing the leadership in the competition. Upon return, the team could not achieve the same dominance as before Willemsen's injury and finished only fifth in the overall standings, having to let the Belgian-Latvian team of Joris Hendrickx
and Kaspars Liepiņš
take out the championship. In the last event of the season, Verbrugge broke his thumb and the team was unable to score any points. Daniël Willemsen however declared already before the race that he would try to win title number eight in 2010, which he successfully did.
In 2011, Willemsen started once more with 43-year old Sven Verbrugge as his passenger, after an injury to first-choice passenger Roman Vasyliaka. It is the fifth time that Willemsen and Verbrugge are racing together in the competition. Willemsen temporarily switched to Ondrej Cermak as his passenger for the first of two German GP's because of an injury to Verbrugge. Willemsen and his passenger clinched the World Championship at the second-last race of the season, at Slagelse
, Denmark, having a 53 point lead over Latvians Janis and Lauris Daiders at the time.
Willemsen already announced that he would aim for title number ten in 2012. The last race event of the 2011 season saw the World Champions, Willemsen and Verbrugge, failing to score any points. A dispute during qualifying between the two lead to Verbrugge walking out during the first qualifying sesion. He later returned to take part in the "last chance", where the team qualified for the race after all. Verbrugge however was injured during a fall and had to be taken to hospital where his arm was placed into a plaster, ruling the team out of the race.
Source:
Lochem
Lochem is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands. it is also the hebrew word for soldier or warrior. On 1 January 2005, the municipality merged with the municipality of Gorssel.- Population centres :Small hamlets are printed in italics....
, Gelderland
Gelderland
Gelderland is the largest province of the Netherlands, located in the central eastern part of the country. The capital city is Arnhem. The two other major cities, Nijmegen and Apeldoorn have more inhabitants. Other major regional centers in Gelderland are Ede, Doetinchem, Zutphen, Tiel, Wijchen,...
) is a Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
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 eight times 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....
.
Willemsen is the most successful rider in sidecarcross history, winning the title nine times, in 1999, 2003, 2004
2004 Sidecarcross world championship
The 2004 FIM Sidecarcross World Championship, the 25th edition of the competition, started on 21 March 2004 and finished after fourteen race weekends on 5 September 2004 with Daniël Willemsen and Kaspars Stupelis taking out the title once more...
, 2005
2005 Sidecarcross world championship
The 2005 FIM Sidecarcross world championship, the 26th edition of the competition, started on 17 April and finished after eleven race weekends on 18 September 2005 with Daniël Willemsen taking out the title once more.-Overview:...
, 2006
2006 Sidecarcross world championship
The 2006 FIM Sidecarcross world championship, the 27th edition of the competition, started on 23 April and finished after eight race weekends on 17 September 2006 with Daniël Willemsen taking out the title once more.-Overview:...
, 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:...
, 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...
, 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...
and 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....
. He has also won the Dutch national sidecarcross championship nine times, winning it last in 2008 and the Belgian championship twice.
For his success in motor sport he was made a member of the Order of Orange-Nassau
Order of Orange-Nassau
The Order of Orange-Nassau is a military and civil order of the Netherlands which was created on 4 April 1892 by the Queen regent Emma of the Netherlands, acting on behalf of her under-age daughter Queen Wilhelmina. The Order is a chivalry order open to "everyone who have earned special merits for...
in 2005. His home town Lochem also has named a street after him in 2005.
In 2007, he took part in the Dakar Rally
Dakar Rally
The Dakar Rally is an annual rally raid type of off-road automobile race, organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation...
, finishing tenth in the solo motorcycle class. To make up for the canceled Dakar Rally 2008, he took part in the Tuareq Rally in March/April 2008, winning the race.
Biography
Marcel Willemsen
Marcel Willemsen is a Dutch sidecarcross passenger and 1999 World Champion.Marcel won the 1999 world championship as the passenger for his older brother, the seven times world champion Daniël Willemsen...
, aged six and four, drove in a home-made Hond 50 cc side car, under the guidance of their father Berry, who had also been a sidecar racer. However, it took the brothers another ten years before they were allowed to take part in sidecar races.
The two brothers entered the senior Dutch championship in 1994, but were barred from racing together in the World Championship because Marcel was not yet 18 years old and Daniël had to find a different passenger instead. Marcel joined his brother in this competition 1995, when he was finally old enough. After teaming up with his brother in 1995, who later became a world championship rider in his own right, his track record started to improve. The two brothers won their first race on 12 May 1996 when they won race two in Baugé
Baugé
Baugé is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France.-Geography and transport:Baugé is located 40 km east of Angers, 280 km from Paris, and 70 km from Tours....
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
After finishing third in 1997, suffering a bad accident at the German GP, and second in 1998, the two won their first world championship in 1999, taking it out by one point and beating the then current champions Kristers Sergis
Kristers Sergis
Kristers Serģis is a retired Latvian sidecarcross rider and five times World Champion.Kristers Serģis came to the sidecarcross sport through his father, himself a rider in the days of the Soviet Union. He made it possible for his son to take up the sport after Latvian independence in 1990...
/ Artis Rasmanis
Artis Rasmanis
Artis Rasmanis is a retired Latvian sidecarcross passenger and five times World Champion.Rasmanis was part of the most successful partnership in sidecarcross world championship history, winning five titles with his driver Kristers Serģis. He retired from international sidecar competition after...
.
In February 2000, the two brothers had a serious accident in a training run in Italy, which saw Marcel temporarily parallised and unable to continue his career. In his stead, for the next two seasons, Sven Verbrugge
Sven Verbrugge
Sven Verbrugge is a Belgian sidecarcross passenger and triple Sidecarcross World Champion, winning the title in 2005, 2006 and 2011....
from Belgium
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...
became Daniël's partner and the two finished second in the overall standing in 2000 and 2001. 2002 saw a repeat of this result, now with Alfons Eggers as his passenger. With Kaspars Stupelis
Kaspars Stupelis
Kaspars Stupelis is a Latvian sidecarcross passenger and double World Champion.As of 2008, he is part of the Team Serģis, operated by five times world champion Kristers Serģis. However, his two world championships were gained when being the passenger in Daniël Willemsen's team...
from Latvia
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...
as his partner, he won the 2003 and 2004 world championship. Sven Verbrugge returned for the 2005 and 2006 season and they took out two more world championships together. In 2007, the Swiss Reto Grütter was Daniël's partner and with him he won his record sixth title. In the 2008 season, Willemsen again raced with Reto Grütter as his partner. An injury prevented Grütter from taking part in the first race of the season and Willemsen replaced him with Bruno Kaelin for the first round. In race fourteen of the season, the team was disqualified after winning the race due to Grütter losing a glove, after a protest by Kristers Sergis. The duo won the 2008 championship convincingly, with a 97 point gap to the second-placed Kristers Sergis.
For the 2009 World Championship, Willemsen was teaming up in the first GP with Belgian passenger Dagwin Sabbe, continuing his habit of changing passengers at regular interval. From the second event onwards, he used veteran passenger Sven Verbrugge once more. On 5 July 2009, Willemsen broke his collar bone
Clavicle
In human anatomy, the clavicle or collar bone is a long bone of short length that serves as a strut between the scapula and the sternum. It is the only long bone in body that lies horizontally...
in a Dutch championship race, ruling him out of racing in a decisive phase of the world championship, just before the end of a summer break in the competition. The duo missed the three following events, thereby losing the leadership in the competition. Upon return, the team could not achieve the same dominance as before Willemsen's injury and finished only fifth in the overall standings, having to let the Belgian-Latvian team of Joris Hendrickx
Joris Hendrickx
Joris Hendrickx is a Belgian sidecarcross rider and the 2009 World Champion, together with his passenger, the Latvian Kaspars Liepiņš....
and Kaspars Liepiņš
Kaspars Liepiņš
Kaspars Liepiņš is a Latvian sidecarcross rider and the 2009 World Champion, won as the passenger of the Belgian Joris Hendrickx.-Sidecarcross results:...
take out the championship. In the last event of the season, Verbrugge broke his thumb and the team was unable to score any points. Daniël Willemsen however declared already before the race that he would try to win title number eight in 2010, which he successfully did.
In 2011, Willemsen started once more with 43-year old Sven Verbrugge as his passenger, after an injury to first-choice passenger Roman Vasyliaka. It is the fifth time that Willemsen and Verbrugge are racing together in the competition. Willemsen temporarily switched to Ondrej Cermak as his passenger for the first of two German GP's because of an injury to Verbrugge. Willemsen and his passenger clinched the World Championship at the second-last race of the season, at Slagelse
Slagelse
Slagelse, a town in east Denmark, is in Slagelse municipality on the island of Zealand. It is about 100 km southwest of Copenhagen. The population is 31,979 ....
, Denmark, having a 53 point lead over Latvians Janis and Lauris Daiders at the time.
Willemsen already announced that he would aim for title number ten in 2012. The last race event of the 2011 season saw the World Champions, Willemsen and Verbrugge, failing to score any points. A dispute during qualifying between the two lead to Verbrugge walking out during the first qualifying sesion. He later returned to take part in the "last chance", where the team qualified for the race after all. Verbrugge however was injured during a fall and had to be taken to hospital where his arm was placed into a plaster, ruling the team out of the race.
Season by season
In some seasons Daniël Willemsen used multiple passengers throughout the year:| Season | Passenger | Equipment | Position | Points | Races | Wins | Second | Third |
| 1994 |  Reiner Stuyvenberg |
Honda-EML EML Sidecars The EML Sidecars company, short EML, is a Dutch Sidecarcross and Quad frame manufacturer, having won numerous worldchampionships in this sport.EML stands for Einmalig, meaning unique.-History:... |
23 | 30 | 2 | — | 1 | — |
| 1995 |  Bruno Bouvet |
Honda-EML | 25 | 8 | 2 | — | — | — |
| Christian Verhagen |
4 | 2 | — | — | — | |||
| Marcel Willemsen Marcel Willemsen Marcel Willemsen is a Dutch sidecarcross passenger and 1999 World Champion.Marcel won the 1999 world championship as the passenger for his older brother, the seven times world champion Daniël Willemsen... |
10 | 2 | — | — | — | |||
| 1996 | Marcel Willemsen |
Zabel-EML | 12 | 82 | 16 | 2 | — | — |
| 1997 | Marcel Willemsen |
Zabel-BSU | 3 | 231 | 14 | 5 | 4 | 2 |
 Sven VerbruggeSven Verbrugge Sven Verbrugge is a Belgian sidecarcross passenger and triple Sidecarcross World Champion, winning the title in 2005, 2006 and 2011.... |
40 | 2 | 2 | — | — | |||
| 1998 | Marcel Willemsen |
Zabel-BSU | 2 | 279 | 18 | 6 | 7 | 2 |
| 1999 | Marcel Willemsen |
Zabel-BSU | 1 | 386 | 24 | 13 | 5 | 1 |
| 2000 | Sven Verbrugge |
Zabel-BSU | 2 | 320 | 22 | 5 | 4 | 7 |
| 2001 | Sven Verbrugge |
Zabel-BSU | 2 | 377 | 22 | 8 | 5 | 3 |
 Premsyl Novotny |
50 | 2 | 2 | — | — | |||
| 2002 | Alfons Eggers |
Zabel-VMC Vruwink MotorCycles The Vruwink MotorCycles company, short VMC, is a Dutch Sidecarcross frame manufacturer, having won eleven riders and six manufacturers world championships in this sport.-Company history:... |
2 | 145 | 8 | 1 | 5 | — |
| Sven Verbrugge |
88 | 4 | — | 4 | — | |||
| Bart Notten |
86 | 4 | — | 3 | 1 | |||
| Dagwin Sabbe |
199 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 1 | |||
| 2003 |  Kaspars StupelisKaspars Stupelis Kaspars Stupelis is a Latvian sidecarcross passenger and double World Champion.As of 2008, he is part of the Team Serģis, operated by five times world champion Kristers Serģis. However, his two world championships were gained when being the passenger in Daniël Willemsen's team... |
Zabel-VMC | 1 | 561 | 24 | 13 | 9 | — |
| 2004 2004 Sidecarcross world championship The 2004 FIM Sidecarcross World Championship, the 25th edition of the competition, started on 21 March 2004 and finished after fourteen race weekends on 5 September 2004 with Daniël Willemsen and Kaspars Stupelis taking out the title once more... |
Kaspars Stupelis |
Zabel-VMC | 1 | 572 | 26 | 18 | 4 | 1 |
| 2005 2005 Sidecarcross world championship The 2005 FIM Sidecarcross world championship, the 26th edition of the competition, started on 17 April and finished after eleven race weekends on 18 September 2005 with Daniël Willemsen taking out the title once more.-Overview:... |
Sven Verbrugge |
Zabel-VMC | 1 | 478 | 22 | 15 | 4 | — |
| 2006 2006 Sidecarcross world championship The 2006 FIM Sidecarcross world championship, the 27th edition of the competition, started on 23 April and finished after eight race weekends on 17 September 2006 with Daniël Willemsen taking out the title once more.-Overview:... |
Sven Verbrugge |
Zabel-VMC | 1 | 341 | 16 | 13 | — | — |
| 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:... |
 Reto GrütterReto Grütter Reto Elias Grütter is a Swiss sidecarcross passenger and the 2007 and 2008 Sidecarcross World Champion.Reto Grütter's name can sometimes be found to be, wrongfully, spelled Reto Grutter.- Sidecarcross world championship results :... |
Zabel-VMC | 1 | 375 | 16 | 15 | — | — |
| 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... |
Bruno Kaelin |
Zabel-VMC | 1 | 36 | 2 | — | — | 1 |
| Reto Grütter |
495 | 22 | 19 | — | 1 | |||
| 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.... |
Dagwin Sabbe |
Zabel-VMC | 5 | 25 | 2 | 1 | — | — |
| Sven Verbrugge |
341 | 17 | 11 | — | — | |||
| 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... |
Gertie Eggink |
Zabel-WSP | 1 | 481 | 24 | 14 | 1 | 3 |
| Dagwin Sabbe |
75 | 4 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 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.... |
Sven Verbrugge |
Zabel-WSP | 1 | 437 | 21 | 14 | 3 | — |
| Ondrej Cermak |
50 | 2 | 2 | — | — | |||
| Overall 1994 - 2011 | 6,477 | 354 | 181 | 65 | 23 | |||
Source:
- Passengers in italics.
Rallies
| Year | Rally | Team | Number | Equipment | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Dakar-rally | Yamaha Holland Team | 233 | Yamaha Yamaha Yamaha may refer to:* Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services** Yamaha Motor Company, a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company... WR 450F |
48th |
| 2008 | Dakar-rally | Yamaha Holland Team | 47 | Yamaha WR 450F | race canceled |
| Touareg-rally | Rally Team Touareg Rally 2008 | 75 | Yamaha WR 450F | 1st | |
| 2009 | Dakar-rally | Yamaha Holland Team | 47 | Yamaha WR 450F | 21st |
World Championship
- Champions: (9) 1999, 2003, 20042004 Sidecarcross world championshipThe 2004 FIM Sidecarcross World Championship, the 25th edition of the competition, started on 21 March 2004 and finished after fourteen race weekends on 5 September 2004 with Daniël Willemsen and Kaspars Stupelis taking out the title once more...
, 20052005 Sidecarcross world championshipThe 2005 FIM Sidecarcross world championship, the 26th edition of the competition, started on 17 April and finished after eleven race weekends on 18 September 2005 with Daniël Willemsen taking out the title once more.-Overview:...
, 20062006 Sidecarcross world championshipThe 2006 FIM Sidecarcross world championship, the 27th edition of the competition, started on 23 April and finished after eight race weekends on 17 September 2006 with Daniël Willemsen taking out the title once more.-Overview:...
, 20072007 Sidecarcross world championshipThe 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:...
, 20082008 Sidecarcross world championshipThe 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...
, 20102010 Sidecarcross World ChampionshipThe 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...
, 20112011 Sidecarcross World ChampionshipThe 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.... - Runners-up: (4) 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002
Netherlands
- Champions: (9) 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008
- Runners-up: (2) 1997, 2005