“Flying Finns” Gold Winners

FIM Sidecar Championship.
Pannonia Ring.
Gold Race Report

Cruel luck for Scott Lawrie and Michael Fairhurst.  Their machine would not start, so it would be a race non-start for the team.

A large crowd stood waiting for the battle, it was on.  As the lights went out Tim Reeves and Mark Wilkes with their “Adolf RS” Yamaha, took to the lead.  Right on their tail was Ben and Tom Birchall with their “LCR” Yamaha, right with them was Pekka Paivarinta and Jussi Veravainen on their “LCR” Honda.  A small gap and then it was Lewis Blackstock and Patrick Rosney on their “LCR” Suzuki, right on their tail was Bennie Streuer and Kevin Rousseau on their “LCR” Kawasaki.  Another small gap and it was Sam and Adam Christie with their “LCR” Yamaha.  Janez Remse and Eamon Mulholland on their “Adolf RS” slotted in behind the Christie boys. Lukas Wyssen and Thomas Hofer with their “LCR” Yamaha were right on the tail of Remse/Mulholland, with Michael Grabmuller and Sebastien Lavorel with their “LCR” Yamaha right on the tail of Wyssen/Hofer.

Lap two of the race saw Ben and Tom Birchall pull into pit lane with a sick machine; they would not rejoin the race, so it was a DNF for the team.  Grabmuller/Lavorel moved up a place and slotted in behind Remse/Mulholland.

Lap three saw a great battle starting to emerge between the leading team of Reeves/Wilkes and the fast charging Paivarinta/Veravainen, also with the demise of the Birchall Brothers another great battle was starting to heat up between Streuer/Rousseau and Blackstock/Rosney.  There was a four bike battle further down the placings, with the teams swapping places all over the track.  This four bike battle between the Christie Brothers and Remse/Mulholland, Wyssen/Hoffer and Grabmuller/Lavorel was sure to have dire consequences for some one.  Unfortunately it was to be Grabmuller/Lavorel, they spun, fortunately they were to continue but they were way back down the field.

At the front, the battle between Reeves/Wilkes and Paivarinta/Veravainen was really getting exiting.  There was nothing between the two teams, and they would swap places but who would come out on top.  On lap seven, heading out to the back of the circuit through a fast right kink Paivarinta/Veravainen were in front of Reeves/Wilkes, Reeves/Wilkes made the move, heading into a tight right hand bend, it was to be a disaster for the team.  They spun off track and into the “kitty litter” it was all hands on deck for Reeves/Wilkes as they tried to get their machine back on track.  The team did get back on track but by this time they were way at the back of the field, they were that far back Paivarinta/Veravainen were nearly catching them to put them a lap down.

By the end of the race, Eero Parm and Marion Meius on their “LCR” Yamaha, who had a great battle with Jakob Rutz and Marcel Fries on their “LCR” Yamaha during the early stages of the race, would finish in eleventh spot.

A delighted Pekka Paivarinta and Jussi Veravainen took a comfortable race win and would have the fastest lap of the race too, a time of 1:59.525.

The battle for second and third place raged on throughout the whole race with the two teams swapping places.  It would be Bennie Streuer and Kevin Rousseau who got the better of Lewis Blackstock and Patrick Rosney, they took second, Blackstock/Rosney third.  A first for Blackstock and Rosney standing on the podium for a World Championship race.

Lukas Wyssen and Thomas Hofer fought hard throughout the race and this would pay off for them, it was a hard race at the beginning for the team, but they were to be delighted with a fourth place.

Another great result for the Christie Brothers Sam and Adam.  They took a well-deserved fifth place, the team worked hard all weekend for this.  More good points for their championship campaign.

A great result for Remse/Mulholland they took sixth place, the team is delighted with this result, they had a great battle in the early stages of the race and fought hard, and this was their reward.
Grabmuller/Lavorel regrouped after their spin, they fought hard and worked their way back up the field.  They would cross the line in seventh place.

Rutz and Fries fought hard for their eighth place, they were to battle all through the race in the early stages and then fight their way up to a good eighth.

Peter Kimeswenger and Jens Lehnertz would take ninth place.  They were locked in battle during the early stages of the race, but as the race continued, their pace seemed to slow.  But another finish, and points for the team.

Tim Reeves and Mark Wilkes would eventually take tenth place, definetly not what they wanted but valuable low points towards their championship lead.

There will be a few weeks break until the next round in Assen, Holland.  This will be in August.

Mark Walters