2016 Sidecarcross World Championship

2016 Sidecarcross World Championship

Season
Grands Prix	11
Duration	10 April 2016–18 September 2016
Drivers
Champions	Jan Hendrickx Ben van den Bogaart
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The 2016 FIM Sidecarcross World Championship, the 37th edition of the competition, started on 10 April and finished after eleven events on 18 September 2016.^[1]

The championship was won by Belgian rider Jan Hendrickx and his Dutch passenger Ben van den Bogaart. For Hendrickx it was the first title while van den Bogaart won his third, having previously been World Champion as passenger of Ben Adriaenssen in 2013 and 2014. Adriaenssen, with passenger Lauris Daiders, finished second, 43 points behind while British riders Stuart Brown and Josh Chamberlain came third.^[1][2]

The defending champions were Etienne Bax from the Netherlands and his Latvian passenger Kaspars Stupelis, winning their first-ever World Championship together in 2015, also Stupelis had been World Champion twice before with Daniël Willemsen in 2003 and 2004.^[2][3] Bax did however not race with Stupelis in 2016, having instead chosen his brother Robbie Bax as passenger for the season.^[4]

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.^[1][2] 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.^[5]