Gertie Eggink

Gertie Eggink, born on 21 February 1980, is a Dutch sidecarcross rider who rides as the passenger in the sidecar crew and who won the 2010 Sidecarcross World Championship alongside driver Daniel Willemsen. He comes from Lochem in Gelderland, the same town as the Willemsen brothers Daniel and Marcel. Eggink began racing in the world championship in 2004 with a variety of drivers. In 2010 he partnered Willemsen, a multiple world champion who had a poor 2009 season after a broken collarbone, and the pair took part in twelve of the fourteen Grand Prix, winning fourteen races and three Grand Prix. Eggink collapsed from exhaustion after the Polish round and was advised by his doctor not to race the final rounds, so Dagwin Sabbe replaced him, yet the crew still won the title by nine points over the defending champions Joris Hendrickx and Kaspars Liepins. His health problems were later attributed to a virus in his blood. In 2011 and 2012 he rode with Marcel Willemsen, finishing in the top ten in 2012, and he made only occasional Grand Prix appearances in 2013 and 2014.