The World Sidecar Championship moves to the 4.740km Pannonia Ring in Hungary, opened in 1997 with motorcycle racing in mind. It is a fast flowing circuit and is close to the Austrian border.
The latest round of the FIM Sidecar World Championship was held at Oschersleben, Germany. The Birchall Brothers, Ben and Tom took two decisive wins there, making it three wins on the trot, including the win at Le Mans. Ben and Tom have come into this season letting the rest of the teams know what their intensions are. And that is to win the lot! Their machine preparation is second to none, as the team work non-stop on their LCR chassis and Yamaha engine making sure all is perfect for the weekend’s racing. Even if there is nothing wrong, they always check and check again.
The “Flying Finns” Pekka Paivarinta and Kirsi Kainulainen took two great second places in Germany. The pair are still getting to grips with their new machine and making adjustments that are improving their lap times every time they go out on track. They will be hoping that they can get closer to the Birchall Brothers and have a good race. In the championship race they are 15 points adrift of the Birchall Brothers who have a maximum 75 points.
Sitting third in the championship going into this round is duo Bennie Streuer and Kevin Rousseau. It was a bit of a nightmare for Bennie leading up to Oschersleben as his passenger Kevin had a broken arm. Despite undergoing surgery and having his arm plated, Kevin hoped he would be able to race in Oschersleben, but this was not to be, it was deemed he would not be fit to race, so Bennie had to find a passenger. Luck was at hand, as Kevin’s partner Emmanuelle Clement stepped in for free practice, letting Bennie set up his machine. Emmanuelle did a great job helping the team out. All Bennie had to do now was get his partner Ilse De-Haas dialed in for the tight technical circuit of Oschersleben. This was not a problem, and Bennie and Ilse had two great fourth places. However it could have been a third place in the sprint race, had it not been for the team slowing up for the final laps because of oil on the track.
Michael Grabmuller and Sophia Kirchhofer had a good weekend in Germany with a sixth and fifth place, leaving them in fourth place in the championship. However like Streuer, Grabmuller and Kirchhofer slowed up considerably in the Sprint race due to oil on the circuit, and the sixth place could have well been a fifth place if it had not been for this. There will be changes in the Austrian team too. Sophia has decided to stop racing, to spend more time with her family. The decision was a hard one for her, but she feels it is for the better. She will still be in the race paddock but not racing. Sebastien Lavorel will take Sophia’s place passengering for Michael in Hungary. If all goes well, Lavorel will stay with the team for the rest of the season.
Fifth equal in the championship with 32 points are John Holden and Mark Wilkes, and Scott Lawrie and Ben Hughes. Holden and Wilkes got their championship campaign back on track after a disastrous first race in Le Mans where they had a DNF due to brake problems. Oschersleben was good for them with two third places but not without its problems for the team. A mechanical problem in qualifying left them having to change an engine. And in the sprint race they had an oil leak which was the cause of the oil-on-track incident, a fact of which the team was unaware until after the race. They will be hoping for another good result in Hungary, which is where driver Holden stood on the podium last year.
Scott Lawrie and Ben Hughes did not have a very good start to their weekend in Oschersleben, as they sat out all of the free practice session with what they thought was an electrical problem but turned out to be a mechanical problem. However they fared better in qualifying and the two races, with a fifth and a sixth place, were good for the team. The Pannonia Ring will be a totally new circuit for them so it will be interesting to see how they get on.
The “Rookie” team in the championship, Lewis Blackstock and Patrick Rosney have had a good season so far. They have opened a few eyes throughout the paddock, with their short chassis LCR and Suzuki power, and Blackstock and Rosney have been taking the race to some of the other teams with long chassis bikes. They had a great start in the sprint race in Oschersleben, scything through the field from eighth place on the grid to fourth. Another team who have never seen the Pannonia Ring circuit, they will be hoping that they can learn it fast and that they will be able to continue with their great championship campaign.
Eighth place in the championship is the all-female team of Estelle Leblond and Melanie Farnier. They have had a great championship campaign up till now. Unfortunately they will not be competing in Hungary, but there is a possibility that they will compete in Assen (The Netherlands), later in the year.
Again another team who have not had any problems with their machine, Jakob Rutz and Marcel Fries have had a reasonable start to the season, but passenger Fries could not make Oschersleben and Manuel Hirschi stepped in to help out. Rutz will have Fries back with him for the Pannonia Ring, so they will be hoping for another trouble-free weekend and to get some good championship points.
Although missing the first round of the championship in France, Janez Remse and Robbie Shorter had a good weekend in Oschersleben. They had to set up a totally new chassis that had never turned a wheel. They will be hoping for another two race finishes and to add good points to their championship campaign.
There will be two races at the Pannonia Ring, a 9 lap Sprint race on Saturday, and on the Sunday a 15 lap Gold race.
See entry list HERE
Mark Walters