FIM Sidecar World Championship,
Oschersleben, Germany,
Race one report.
The sun was starting to drop and it was just a nice temperature for the 21 lap race in Oschersleben.
As the lights went out it was a great start from Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clement with their LCR, Yamaha, they led into the first complex of corners, their lead was good too, they had two to three bike lengths on the second place team of Markus Schlosser and Marcel Fries with their LCR, Yamaha. Bennie Streuer and Jeroen Remme on their Adolf RS, Yamaha slotted into third place. What a start from Ted and Vincent Peugeot with their LCR, Yamaha, they got a flyer into fourth spot, with Pekka Paivarinta and Ilse de Haas on their LCR, Yamaha in fifth. Stephen Kershaw and Ryan Charlwood with their LCR, Yamaha slotted into sixth spot, with Robb Biggs and Jeroen Schmitz right with them in seventh with their LCR, Yamaha. Tim Reeves and Kevin Rousseau had a treble start with their Adolf RS, Yamaha, they just did not get away when the lights changed they were down in eighth place, they had Peter Kimeswenger and Kevin Kolsh with their LCR, Yamaha on the outside trying to get past. Scott Lawrie and Shelley Smithies on their LCR, Yamaha managed to get a good start and slotted in behind Reeves and Rousseau in doing so there was a bit of fairing bashing between themselves and Biggs and Schmitz but all was good between the two teams and they were to have a race long battle.
Ellis and Clement looked as if they were going to get away and have it their own way, but Schlosser and Fries were having none of it, they managed to get back up with Ellis/Clement and make a pass that was going to stick for the race distance. Ellis and Clement could not stick with Schlosser/Fries but if the leading pair were to make a mistake or have any problems Ellis/Clement were through.
Streuer and Remme were not far down on the leading two teams and were setting good lap times, but a fast charging Paivarinta and De Haas had managed to pass Peugeot/Peugeot and were chasing down Streuer/Remme. This left Peugeot getting the attention from a fast charging Reeves/Rousseau, Reeves and Rousseau had now got back in their stride and were making up places but they had to fight hard for these places.
Lap seven saw Philippe Gallerne and Yann Druel with their RCN, Kawasaki pull out with a mechanical problem.
Lukas Wyssen and Thomas Hofer with their LCR, Yamaha had an off track excursion on the first lap which left them rejoining the race way back at the end of the field. They fought hard and got back battling and making up places.
At the back of the field there was a great battle between Janez Remse and Manfred Wechselberger with their Adolf RS, Yamaha, Kevin Cable and Kyle Masters, LCR, Yamaha, and Claude Vinet and Melanie Farnier with their LCR, Yamaha. These three teams were to battle and pass each another multiple times throughout the race, but with three laps to go Vinet/Farnier were to suffer from a slipping clutch which left them struggling to continue, but they did manage, and finished, albeit one lap down.
Remse/Wechselberger got the better of Cable /Masters at the end of the race and took thirteenth place ahead of Cable/Masters, Fourteenth.
Kees Endveld and Hendrik Crome with their LCR, Yamaha did not get the best of starts but they managed to get in a good battle with Kimeswenger/Kolsh throughout the race, with the two teams fighting hard but at the end of the race Kimeswenger/Kolsh got the better of Endveld/Crome to take eleventh with Endveld/ Crome twelfth.
Wyssen/Hofer fought their way up to tenth place and this is where they finished, not what they had wanted but happy with the result.
Biggs/Schmitz fought off the challenge from Lawrie/ Smithies this was after Lawrie/Smithies had a bit of motocross excitement, and fought hard to visibly catch Biggs/Schmitz, but the gap between the two teams was too much for Lawrie/ Smithies to make up. Biggs/Schmitz took eighth with Lawrie/Smithies ninth.
Father and son team Ted and Vincent Peugeot ended up having a bit of a lonely race after their cracking start they were to finish in seventh place, but the team were overjoyed with the result.
Sixth place went to Kershaw/Charlwood, they had a fair battle with Paivarinta/De Haas the two teams were locked in a close battle for the majority of the race but it was Paivarinta/De Haas who came out on top with a fifth place.
Streuer and Remme fought hard throughout the race but they just could not fight off the challenge from Reeves and Rousseau. They were to take fourth place, they were happy with this result.
After their bad start Reeves/Rousseau got up to third place and by the end of the race it looked like they could make a challenge for the second place held by Ellis/Clement but Ellis/Clement managed to stay in front. Reeves/Rousseau took third place, the pair were really happy with this result, with Reeves saying “What a start! I can’t remember the last time I did that” but with a smile on his face (and Rousseau too) “maybe we should push”.
Ellis/Clement took a great second place, the team were happy with this, but driver Ellis said, “We had tyre trouble, but we are really happy with this result, we will see what we can do tomorrow”
A delighted Markus Schlosser and Marcel Fries took the chequred flag for a great win, they were 4.436 seconds ahead of Ellis/Clement and they were credited with the fastest lap of the race a time of 1:32.102. Schlosser said after, “We had a great race, everything was perfect, the bike was perfect, we worked well as a team throughout, we hope tomorrow will be the same”
There will be another 21 lap race tomorrow starting at 13:15 local time
Mark Walters