Rounds Four and Five, Pannonia Ring, Hungary,
Only one week after the last meeting in Croatia, the World Sidecar Championship moves to the 4.740km Pannonia Ring in Hungary
Most of the sidecar teams have been taking a small holiday since Croatia last weekend, so they know how hot this meeting will be. With temperatures soaring into the low 30s as the teams arrive at the Pannonia Ring, it will be a test for riders and machines.
The Swiss pairing of Markus Schlosser and Thomas Hofer will be on a high after their two wins in Croatia, and they lead the FIM World Sidecar Championship with 66 points.
Flying Finns Pekka Paivarinta and Kirsi Kainulainen also had a good meeting in Croatia, and come to Hungary only 10 points adrift of Schlosser and Hofer. They will hope to go well here as they did well in the Pannonia Ring last year, when they pushed last year’s winners Tim Reeves and Gregory Cluze all the way to the chequered flag.
The French pairing of Sebastien Delannoy and Kevin Rousseau will also be looking for a good result in Hungary. They are sitting third in the Championship with 47 points. This will be their first time in the Pannonia Ring, so that may be a slight disadvantage for them, as most of the other teams were here last year.
Tim Reeves and Gregory Cluze will be hoping to score good results here and get their championship up and running again. Croatia was not good for them, but they will be going all out for race wins in Hungary. They currently sit fourth in the championship with 39 points.
2016 Champions, Bennie Streuer and Geert Koerts are sitting in fifth with 32 points. They too will be going for good results in Hungary; they were on the podium once last year, and missed out on a second podium by just one place.
Sitting sixth in the championship with 26 points are John Holden and Stuart Ramsay. They have had steady races so far, and missed out on a podium spot in Croatia, when they were held up by back markers on the last lap of the Gold Race.
The FIM Sidecar F2 World Trophy is being led by Ben and Tom Birchall. They have won all three races so far, and will be looking for another two in Hungary. They currently have 75 points.
Second in the F2 World Trophy are Gunter Bachmaier and Manfred Wechselberger, with 49 points. Having made two podiums in Croatia, they will be looking for another two in Hungary.
Third are Michael Grabmuller and Sophia Kirchhofer on 36 points. They will be looking for better luck in Hungary, as they have been having problems with the fuel mapping on their machine.
Tony Baker and Fiona Milligan Baker are sitting fourth with 34 points. They will hope for two good results in Hungary, and if Grabmuller and Kirchhofer still have problems with their machine, they could be up into the top three.
There will be one free practice, two qualifying sessions, and a 10-lap sprint race starting at 16.10 local time on Saturday. On Sunday there will be a warm up session and a 15-lap Gold Race starting at 13.50 local time.
Mark Walters