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Kaspars Stupelis

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Kaspars Stupelis
NationalityLatvia Latvia
Born (1982-07-07) 7 July 1982 (age 42)
Cēsis, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union (now  Latvia)
Bike number2
Motorcycle racing career statistics
Sidecarcross World Championship
Active years2001 – present
ManufacturersZabel-AYR (2001–2002)
Zabel-VMC (2003–2004)
MTH-BSU (2005)
KTM-Mefo (2006–2007)
KTM-AYR (2008)
Zabel-VMC (2009)
KTM-WSP (2010)
Zabel-WSP (2011–2012)
Zabel-VMC (2013)
Zabel-WSP (2014–present)
Championships(3) 2003, 2004, 2015
2015 championship position1st
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
299 92 187 5,301

Kaspars Stupelis (born 7 July 1982) is a Latvian sidecarcross passenger and quadruple World Champion.

Stupelis won the 2015 and 2019 World Championship as passenger of Etienne Bax. His previous two world championships were gained when being the passenger in Daniël Willemsen's team. In his time with Willemsen, he also won two Dutch titles in 2003 and 2004, an achievement repeated at the side of Bax in 2012, 2014 and 2015.

Sidecarcross world championship results

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Kaspars Stupelis entered the sidecarcross world championship as a passenger for his fellow Latvian driver Modris Štelle in 2001. His first two seasons alongside Štelle were not particularly successful and it came as a surprise when the reigning world champion, Daniël Willemsen, picked him as his passenger for the 2003 season. The team was successful from the start, winning the first race of the season in Talavera de la Reina, Spain on 6 April 2003.

It was Stupelis first race victory and he gained another 30 in this and the next season with Willemsen, winning two world titles in the process. Willemsen, who has exchanged passengers frequently over the years, did something of a swoop with Kristers Serģis after the 2004 season, with Stupelis joining his fellow Latvian former world champion and, in exchange, Sven Verbrugge from Belgium joining Willemsen from Serģis.[1] The new pair Serģis / Stupelis finished second in the final standings in 2005, winning seven races.

2006 was not a good year for the combination and they only raced in two events, failing to win any of the four races they participated but achieving three podium finishes. In 2007, they were back, won their home GP and finished third overall, becoming the only team to snatch a victory from the world champion Willemsen. The duo continued to race and took part in the 2008 season, which was Serģis last.

In 2009, Kaspars Stupelis was racing as passenger of Nicky Pulinx in the world championship, in 2010 he raced with fellow Latvian Maris Rupeiks. He missed the first two events of the 2011 season, being replaced by Elvis Mucenieks, but raced the remaining eleven Grand Prix with Rupeiks again. He had a much improved 2012 season on the side of Etienne Bax, finishing second in the world championship, only five points behind winners Daniël Willemsen. In 2013 the team Bax/Stupelis came second once more in the world championship, this time finishing 97 points behind Ben Adriaenssen and Ben van den Bogaart.[2] Stupelis and Bax finished second in the World Championship for a third consecutive time in 2014, 18 points behind Adriaenssen and van den Bogaart.[3]

Stupelis and Bax won the 2015 World Championship in the second-last event of the season. After the end of the season it was announced that Stupelis would not race with Bax in 2016 as the latter would switch to his younger brother Robbie Bax as his passenger.[4]

As Willemsens passenger, he has also won two Dutch national titles, in 2003 and 2004. In 2012, 2014 and 2015, now with Etienne Bax, he won three more national titles in the Netherlands.

Season by season

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Season Driver Equipment Position Points Races Wins Second Third
2001 Latvia Modris Štelle Zabel-AYR 27 14 10
2002 Latvia Modris Štelle Zabel-AYR 23 69 12
2003 Netherlands Daniël Willemsen Zabel-VMC 1 561 24 13 9
2004 Netherlands Daniël Willemsen Zabel-VMC 1 572 26 18 4 1
2005 Latvia Kristers Serģis MTH-BSU 2 440 22 7 12
2006 Latvia Kristers Serģis KTM-Mefo 19 64 4 2 1
2007 Latvia Kristers Serģis KTM-Mefo 3 242 16 1 8 1
2008 Latvia Kristers Serģis KTM-AYR 2 434 24 4 12 2
2009 Belgium Nicky Pulinx Zabel-VMC 12 229 25
2010 Latvia Māris Rupeiks KTM-WSP 5 423 28 1 4 2
2011 Latvia Māris Rupeiks Zabel-WSP 4 316 22 1 4
2012 Netherlands Etienne Bax Zabel-WSP 2 447 22 9 8 1
2013 Netherlands Etienne Bax Zabel-VMC 2 513 25 14 6
2014 Netherlands Etienne Bax Zabel-WSP 2 402 19 8 5 3
2015 Netherlands Etienne Bax Zabel-WSP 1 675 30 16 7 3
Overall 2001 – 2015 5,301 299 92 81 14

Source:"The John Davey Pages – Kaspars Stupelis". John Davey. Retrieved 2008-04-05.

  • Passengers in italics.

Honours

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World Championship

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  • Champions: (4) 2003, 2004, 2015, 2019
  • Runners-up: (5) 2005, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014

Netherlands

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  • Champions: (5) 2003, 2004, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2018

References

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  1. ^ "Side Car Moto-Cross". netherlandsembassy.lv. 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-05. [dead link]
  2. ^ FIM SIDECAR MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: Classification 2013 Archived October 16, 2013, at the Wayback Machine FIM website, accessed: 8 October 2013
  3. ^ Gepann-WM: Zitterpartie für Champion Adriaenssen (in German) speedweek.com, published: 22 September 2014, accessed: 24 September 2014
  4. ^ Gespann-WM 2016: Etienne & Robbie Bax mit Yamaha! (in German) speedweek.com, published: 2 October 2015, accessed: 4 November 2015
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Sporting positions
Preceded by Sidecarcross World Champion (passenger)
2015
Incumbent
Preceded by Sidecarcross World Champion (passenger)
2003–2004
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Dagwin Sabbe
Dutch national sidecarcross champion (passenger)
2003–2004
Succeeded by
Christian Verhagen
Preceded by Dutch national sidecarcross champion (passenger)
2012
Succeeded by
Christian Verhagen
Preceded by
Ben van den Bogaart
Dutch national sidecarcross champion (passenger)
2014–present
Incumbent