Marcel Willemsen

Marcel Willemsen, born on 28 May 1977 in Lochem in the Dutch province of Gelderland, is a sidecarcross competitor from the Netherlands. He began in the world championship in 1995 as the passenger of his older brother Daniel Willemsen, riding a Honda-EML outfit, and the pair won their first race at the French Grand Prix in Bauge in 1996. They finished third in 1997 and second in 1998 before winning the world championship by a single point in 1999. A serious training crash in February 2000 left him temporarily paralysed, yet he recovered within ten months and returned in 2001 as a driver, working with passengers including Rene Boon, Marco Godau, Bruno Kaelin and Gertie Eggink. His best season as a driver was eighth overall in 2012, when he took his first podium as a driver at the Belgian Grand Prix, and he also holds two Dutch national titles as a passenger.