The fifth round of the FIM Sidecar World Championship will take place on the 22nd and 23rd August, next weekend, at the 4.168km circuit of Grobnik in Croatia, just south of Rijeka, just inland from the Adriatic Coast. The anti-clockwise circuit is surrounded with mountains with stunning views all round. The “Automotodrom Grobnik” circuit opened in 1978 and until 1990 the Yugoslavian motorcycle GP was held here. Over the years the track surface was known to be so grippy, that even slick tyres would be used in wet conditions. The track was resurfaced in 2018 and the sidecar teams approved of the improvement.
Markus Schlosser and Marcel Fries will arrive in Croatia with their LCR, Yamaha, with a healthy 165 points leading the championship. Last time out in Assen, Holland, and the team stood on the top spot of the podium for both races, they will be hoping for the same here in Croatia. The team has gone well here at the Grobnik circuit in the past.
Rookie team to the championship this year, Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clement with their LCR, Yamaha might have different ideas about Schlosser and Fries standing on the top of the podium though. They are second in the championship so far with 133 points, this will be another new track for the team, but going by their performances so far this year this may not be a disadvantage to the team.
Pekka Paivarinta and Ilse de Haas with their LCR, Yamaha, have 113 points for their third place in the championship. Paivarinta has had good results here in the past, and the way he and his young lady passenger De Haas have been racing this year, podiums could well be for the team over the weekend.
Stephen Kershaw and Ryan Charlwood have certainly got their championship back on course with their LCR, Yamaha. Bad luck and electrical problems with their machine in the earlier rounds of the championship seem to be behind them now; they have 96 points for fourth in the championship. They will be hoping for a good weekend, this is another team who have not raced here before.
Tim Reeves and Kevin Rousseau are down in fifth place with their Adolf RS, Yamaha, they have 85 points. Things have not been going to plan for the team this year, mechanical, electrical problems, and a disqualification defiantly not what the team had hoped for this year.
Lukas Wyssen and Thomas Hofer with their LCR, Yamaha are sixth in the championship with 58 points. The team has been battling with handling and braking problems throughout the season so far. They will be hoping that Croatia will be different.
Kees Endeveld and Hendrik Crome have 41 points for eighth in the championship with their LCR, Yamaha. The last round in Assen for the team was not so good, they had electrical sensor problems. They will be hoping that these are behind them now and a good weekend in Croatia will be good for the team.
Robert Biggs and Jeroen Schmitz have 30 points for tenth place in the championship with their LCR, Yamaha. Not entered for the full season the team have done well and enjoyed their challenge so far. With most teams liking the Grobnik circuit I think the team will have a great experience here.
Seventh and ninth place teams in the championship, Ted and Vincent Peugeot, Harrison Payne and Mark Wilkes will not be present in Croatia, so it is probable that their positions in the championship will drop.
Josef Sattler and Luca Schmidt with their Adolf RS, Yamaha will be back in Croatia. They will be hoping for a good weekend, they have been having success in their domestic championship. They have 26 points for eleventh in the championship.
Kevin Cable and Kyle Masters are sitting in twelfth place with 24 points with their LCR, Yamaha. They had problems at the beginning of the season, but seem to be over that now and their lap times improve with every visit to the track. This will be another new track to the team, they will hope for the same here in Croatia.
Claude Vinet and Damien Common with their LCR, Yamaha will be here in Croatia. The team were in Assen for the last round and have accumulated 23 points in the championship so far. They will hope to increase this at the Grobnik circuit.
Peter Kimeswenger and Kevin Kolsh, also will be in Croatia with their LCR, Yamaha. They have 18 points in the championship; they will hope for a trouble free weekend and hope to increase their points tally.
Slovenian driver Janez Remse with his Austrian passenger Manfred Wechselberger will be here at what they call their local track. They will be hoping that they can improve their points tally here in Grobnik, and they will have a trouble free weekend.
Bennie Streuer and Jeroen Remme will be hoping for a better time here at Grobnik with their Adolf RS, Yamaha than they did at their home GP in Assen. It was Streuer’s comeback and Remme’s too. They did actually finish on the podium in race one at Assen, they stood on the third place, but after technical checks were done, the team were excluded from the result due to an infringement of the rules, technical regulations-Art 2.2.4 (minimum weight) Race two in Assen was not so good for the team either. They pulled out with electrical problems.
There will be two races in Croatia. Saturday at 13:45 local time will be the start of the first 18 lap race. The second 18 lap race on Sunday will start at 11:45.
Mark Walters