FIM Sidecar World Championship.
They set a pole position time of 1:58.679. This is a faster time than the fastest lap time from last year during the race with the larger 1000cc engine. Brothers Ben and Tom were really pleased with this, with Ben saying, “The bike is perfect, we will see how the race goes, it has been a good weekend so far.
Sitting next to the Birchall Brothers will be Pekka Paivarinta and Kirsi Kainulainen on their “44-Racing” LCR, Honda. They set a time 2:01.183. Both Pekka and Kirsi were happy with this. Their machine is getting better with every time they visit the track. “We will see how the race goes, I think we can do well” said Pekka.
Third place on the grid with a time of 2:02.441 goes to John Holden and Mark Wilkes on their “Barnes/Silicon Racing” LCR, Kawasaki. Both John and Mark are happy with this, but they have a small issue with their front brake, they will be checking this over before the race this afternoon, overall though they are happy how things have gone so far over the weekend.
Heading the second row with a time of 2:03.709 is Michael Grabmuller with his new passenger Sebastien Lavorel on their “Polizeisportverein Wels Delta Racing Team” LCR, Yamaha. Michael is really happy how things have turned out, their machine is good, and he said “Sebastien has gelled in well, he is a good passenger for the team” Lavorel is happy with how things are going too, he said “All is perfect”
Bennie Streuer with his regular passenger, back from injury, Kevin Rousseau, will take the fifth spot on the grid with a time of 2:03.720 with their “Team Streuer” LCR, Honda. Streuer and Rousseau were not happy with their engine in free practice, so they worked into the night and changed the engine. They were happy in qualifying one, but in qualifying two not so happy, Benny said, “All seems good, but we do not know where we are losing time, we were slightly slower in Q2 than Q1. We will see how things go in the race; I hope we can get a good result”.
Heading row three will be Peter Kimeswenger and Jens Lehnertz with a time of 2:06.119 on their “Austria Sidecar Racing-MRSC-Gunskirchen” LCR, Kawasaki. The team were happy with this and did not have any problems with their machine. They are hoping that they can get a good result in race one and get good points for their championship campaign.
A great qualifying for the “Rookie Team” Lewis Blackstock and Patrick Rosney on their “Dave Holden Racing” LCR, Suzuki. They set a time of 2:07.058 for seventh spot on the grid. They are the fastest of the short chassis bikes. They had a small problem in Q1, with their machine misfiring, but they solved the problem for Q2 and all is well for race one. They are pleased with how things have gone, and another new circuit for them.
The final spot on row three goes to Gunter Bachmaier and returning from injury Manfred Wechselberger on their “MSV-Schwanenstadt, PSV-Wels” LCR, Suzuki. They set a time of 2:07.377. The team are happy with this and passenger Wechselberger has no problems with his past injuries.
Heading row four is Scott Lawrie and new passenger to the team Helen Deeley, they set a time of 2:08.539 on their “Team SLR” LCR, Suzuki. This is a new circuit for driver Lawrie, but passenger Deeley has raced here before. The team have been having some suspension problems with the front of their machine but hope that some adjustments will cure this problem.
Lining up beside Lawrie and Deeley in tenth place will be Janez Remse and Robbie Shorter on their “Remse Racing” ARS, Yamaha. They set a time of 2:08.599. The team has been doing some handling set up work, which has improved their machine. Both Remse and Shorter are happy with their machine; it is getting better with every visit to the track. They hope that they can do better in the race and get good championship points.
Heading row five will be Eckart Rosinger and Steffen Werner on their “Team Early Gray” Baker, Suzuki. Their fastest time was 2:10.693. The team are happy and they have had no machine problems. They hope they can have a good race and get a good result for good championship points.
Lining up beside Rosinger and Werner will be Jakob Rutz and Marcel Fries on their “Sidecar-Racing-Team-Rutz” LCR, Yamaha. Passenger Fries is back after injury but he feels good. Their machine is good and hope to go better in the race.
Tony Baker and Fiona Holden-Baker will start thirteenth with a time of 2:11.823 with their “Cumbria Express” Baker, Suzuki. They have had no problems with their machine and hope to have a good race and get championship points.
There will be a 9 lap sprint race starting at 16.50 local time.
