Kristers Serģis

Kristers Serģis (born January 14, 1974) is a retired Latvian sidecarcross rider and five times World Champion.

Kristers Serģis
Nationality Latvia
Born (1974-01-14) January 14, 1974
Cēsis, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union now  Latvia
Bike number3
WebsiteOfficial website
Motorcycle racing career statistics
Sidecarcross World Championship
Active years1992 - 2008
Championships(5) 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002
2008 championship position2nd
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
312 98 195 4,687

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. Through sponsorship from a timber building company in Cēsis, it was possible for him to turn professional, a rarity in this sport. To be able to keep the traveling distances short, Kristers now lives in the Netherlands but returns to Latvia in the off-season to work at his motorcycle dealership, "Kristers Serģis Moto".[1]

Kristers Serģis has been voted "Latvian sports person of the year" multiple times, winning the award in 1997, 1998 and 2000.

At the end of the 2008 season, Kristers Serģis retired from the sidecarcross sport.

Sidecarcross world championship results

Kristers Serģis entered the sidecarcross world championship in 1992, with Artis Rasmanis as his passenger. After two seasons with limited success and starts, he switched to Normunds Bērziņš as his partner for 1994 and 1995 but continued to have only a small impact on the race circuit. In 1996, he returned with Artis Rasmanis and in the fourth race of the season they achieved their first race win, on 21 April in Betekom, Belgium.

The season after, their fortunes improved greatly and the duo won their first of five world championships this year. In 1998, they repeated their success and in 1999 they missed out by only one point to Daniël Willemsen / Marcel Willemsen on their third triumph. Also, in 1998, they won the German sidecarcross championship.[2] However, Serģis / Rasmanis continued their successful partnership with three more titles in 2000, 2001 and 2002. With their fifth title they became record holders in world cup wins in this sport. Previously, two drivers had archived four crowns, but none of them had five. In the 2002 season, they achieved an amazing 13 wins in a row and 24 all up. After this, Rasmanis left the team and Sven Verbrugge from Belgium became Serģis's new partner. After a second place in 2003, the team fell to seventh in 2004 due to an injury for Serģis, which put him out of action for three months, and split up after this season, Verbrugge joining Daniël Willemsen instead. In turn, Kaspars Stupelis came from Willemsen across to Serģis and the two finished runner-up in the 2005 season. In 2006 they raced in only two events and Serģis failed to score a GP victory for the first time since 1995, finishing 19th overall. The Serģis / Stupelis partnership returned in 2007 and with good results and one GP win they achieved third place in the overall standing that season. However, Daniël Willemsen overtook them as record holders, having won six titles now. Despite this, the two Latvians Serģis / Rasmanis remain the most successful outfit in the history of sidecarcross world championship since Willemsen frequently exchanged partners in his six titles.[3]

Season by season

Season Passenger Equipment Position Points Races Wins Second Third
1992 Latvia Artis Rasmanis Kawasaki-EML 46 1 3
1993 Latvia Artis Rasmanis KTM-EML 33 25 9
1994 Latvia Normunds Bērziņš KTM-EML 22 31 10
1995 Latvia Normunds Bērziņš KTM-EML 18 4 20
Latvia Artis Rasmanis 11 4
1996 Latvia Artis Rasmanis KTM-EML 6 132 16 1 1
Latvia Normunds Bērziņš 15 2 1
1997 Latvia Artis Rasmanis KTM-EML 1 277 20 5 4 2
1998 Latvia Artis Rasmanis Zabel-BSU 1 299 18 7 5 2
1999 Latvia Artis Rasmanis Zabel-BSU 2 385 24 8 10 3
2000 Netherlands Ramon van Mill MTH-BSU 1 54 4 1 1
Latvia Artis Rasmanis 298 22 7 6 2
2001 Latvia Artis Rasmanis MTH-BSU 1 534 26 16 4 3
Netherlands Christian Verhagen 16 2
2002 Latvia Artis Rasmanis MTH-BSU 1 662 28 24 1 2
2003 Belgium Sven Verbrugge MTH-BSU 2 501 26 12 7 1
2004 Belgium Sven Verbrugge MTH-BSU 7 246 12 6 1 2
2005 Latvia Kaspars Stupelis MTH-BSU 2 440 22 7 12
2006 Latvia Kaspars Stupelis KTM-Mefo 19 64 4 2 1
2007 Latvia Kaspars Stupelis KTM-Mefo 3 242 16 1 8 1
2008 Latvia Kaspars Stupelis KTM-AYR 2 434 24 4 12 2
Overall 1992 - 2008 4687 312 98 74 23

Source:"The John Davey Pages - Kristers Serģis". John Davey. Retrieved 2008-04-04.

  • Passengers in italics.

Honours

World Championship

  • Champions: (5) 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002
  • Runners-up: (4) 1999, 2003, 2005, 2008

Germany

Belgium

References

  1. Gespann-Moto Cross-WM Reutlingen (in German)
  2. Statistik/Hall Of Fame
  3. "Side Car Moto-Cross". netherlandsembassy.lv. 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-05.
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