Marcel Willemsen
Encyclopedia
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
. After this, he left his brothers team and started racing as a sidecarcross driver himself, competing in the Dutch and the world championship.
Willemsen is married and has three children, living in Lochem. In 2007 he announced that 2008 would be his last season as a GP rider, retiring from the international competition but took part in a limited number of races in the following seasons.
GP in Markelo
on 24 September 1995, which is the only one he raced in that season. The two brothers quickly improved and the next season saw their first win, at the French
GP in Baugé
on 12 May 1996. From season to season they improved, culminating in a one-point win of the world championship in 1999. Marcel suffered serious injuries in a training run in February 2000, finding himself temporarily paralised and unable to continue racing.
He made a surprising recovery within ten month and returned to the sicecarcross world championship in 2001, now as a driver, with his countryman Rene Boon as passenger. Marcel could however not archive the same success there as he had with his brother, a tenth overall finish in 2006 being his strongest season result. Three fifth place finishes in races were his best results in individual events. The 2008 season, now with his German passenger Marco Godau, was to be his last as an international rider, but he may continue to race in the Dutch championship were his showings have been much stronger over the years. He did take part in the Dutch and Swiss GP with passenger Bruno Kaelin in 2009, achieving good results.
He mainly raced in the 2009 German Championship, where he finished second overall. In 2010, Willemsen participated in three Grand Prix once more, again with Bruno Kaelin as his passenger. In 2011, he took part in twelve races, using Gertie Eggink as his passenger, who had won the world championship in the previous year as passenger of Marcel's brother.
Source:
Source:
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...
passenger and 1999 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....
.
Marcel won the 1999 world championship as the passenger for his older brother, the seven times world champion 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...
. After this, he left his brothers team and started racing as a sidecarcross driver himself, competing in the Dutch and the world championship.
Willemsen is married and has three children, living in Lochem. In 2007 he announced that 2008 would be his last season as a GP rider, retiring from the international competition but took part in a limited number of races in the following seasons.
Sidecarcross world championship results
Marcel started racing with his brother Daniël in the world championship in 1995. As a passenger, his first world championship race was the DutchNetherlands
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...
GP in Markelo
Markelo
Markelo is a town in the Dutch province of Overijssel. It is located in the municipality of Hof van Twente, about west of Hengelo and south-west of Almelo. The population is about 7.000....
on 24 September 1995, which is the only one he raced in that season. The two brothers quickly improved and the next season saw their first win, at the French
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...
GP 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....
on 12 May 1996. From season to season they improved, culminating in a one-point win of the world championship in 1999. Marcel suffered serious injuries in a training run in February 2000, finding himself temporarily paralised and unable to continue racing.
He made a surprising recovery within ten month and returned to the sicecarcross world championship in 2001, now as a driver, with his countryman Rene Boon as passenger. Marcel could however not archive the same success there as he had with his brother, a tenth overall finish in 2006 being his strongest season result. Three fifth place finishes in races were his best results in individual events. The 2008 season, now with his German passenger Marco Godau, was to be his last as an international rider, but he may continue to race in the Dutch championship were his showings have been much stronger over the years. He did take part in the Dutch and Swiss GP with passenger Bruno Kaelin in 2009, achieving good results.
He mainly raced in the 2009 German Championship, where he finished second overall. In 2010, Willemsen participated in three Grand Prix once more, again with Bruno Kaelin as his passenger. In 2011, he took part in twelve races, using Gertie Eggink as his passenger, who had won the world championship in the previous year as passenger of Marcel's brother.
Season by season
| Season | Team | Equipment | Position | Points | Races | Wins | Second | Third |
| 1995 |  Daniël WillemsenDaniël 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... |
Honda Honda is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than... -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:... |
25 | 10 | 2 | — | — | — |
| 1996 | Daniël Willemsen |
Zabel--EML | 12 | 82 | 16 | 2 | — | — |
| 1997 | Daniël Willemsen |
Zabel-BSU | 3 | 231 | 14 | 5 | 4 | 2 |
| 1998 | Daniël Willemsen |
Zabel-BSU | 2 | 279 | 18 | 6 | 7 | 2 |
| 1999 | Daniël Willemsen |
Zabel-BSU | 1 | 386 | 24 | 13 | 5 | 1 |
| 2001 | Rene Boon |
19 | 44 | 14 | — | — | — | |
| 2002 | Rene Boon |
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:... |
16 | 144 | 26 | — | — | — |
| 2003 | Rene Boon |
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... -VMC |
32 | 33 | 8 | — | — | — |
| 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... |
Rene Boon |
KTM-VMC | 13 | 181 | 8 | — | — | — |
 Harolds Kurpnicks |
10 | 2 | — | — | — | |||
| 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:... |
Bart Notten |
KTM-VMC | 13 | 132 | 18 | — | — | — |
| 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:... |
Bjorn Roes |
Zabel-VMC | 10 | 137 | 12 | — | — | — |
| 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:... |
 Marco Godau |
Zabel-BSU | 17 | 82 | 16 | — | — | — |
| 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... |
Marco Godau |
Zabel-WSP | 11 | 208 | 24 | — | — | — |
| 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.... |
 Bruno Kaelin |
Zabel-WSP | 24 | 41 | 4 | — | — | — |
| 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... |
Bruno Kaelin |
Zabel-WSP | 25 | 46 | 6 | — | — | — |
| 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.... |
Gertie Eggink |
Zabel-WSP | 21 | 58 | 12 | — | — | — |
| Overall 1995 - 2011 | 2,094 | 222 | 26 | 16 | 5 |
Source:
Source:
- Passengers in italics.
Netherlands
- Champions: (2) 1998, 1999
- Runners-up: (1) 1997