FIM Sidecar World Championship
Oschersleben, Germany
Qualifying
With the temperatures way up in the high twenties for both of the qualifying sessions it was hard work for the sidecar teams.
Ben and Tom Birchall went out on track with their “Birchall Racing” LCR, Yamaha and stamped their authority on the rest of the field. They had a trouble free qualifying. The Brothers did however make some changes to their machine; they changed the gearing which was better for them. Ben said after, “We changed the gearing, it may sound like we are running out of revs at the end of the straight, but if we made a higher gear we would lose all the drive out of the tighter sections of the track. We are happy with how the bike is and we are looking forward to the races” Ben and Tom will start from pole position with a time of 1:32.935
Sitting next to the Birchal Brothers in second spot will be Pekka Paivarinta and Kirsi Kainulainen on their “44-Racing” LCR, Honda. They too had no machine problems but the team are still making adjustments to their machine after each visit to the track. They set a time of 1:34.300. Pekka explained, “We are happy with the bike, but we still make small changes, just to get it perfect. It takes some time to get a new bike just right, we are getting there though, we hope the races will be good for us”. The last place on the front row will go to John Holden and Mark Wilkes on their “Barnes/Sillicon Racing” LCR, Kawasaki. Qualifying did not go to plan for the team though. In the first qualifying session the team did an out lap and just started their first fast lap when they had to pull into pit lane and on to the paddock. They were losing engine oil from somewhere on their machine but could not find where. So the best option was back to the paddock to find the problem. With the problem sorted for the second qualifier, it was all go! They set a time of 1:35.244, with only four laps done. They did however make the best of the track time, with only short stops back in pit lane; they were back out on track.
Heading the second row with a time of 1:36.360 will be Bennie Streuer and Ilse De Haas on their “Team Streuer” LCR, Honda. Another passenger for Streuer! Ilse is Bennie’s partner and she has raced world sidecar races before. Emmanuelle Clement was only helping out for free practice, and now Ilse did qualifying and will do the two races. Bennie said “It has been a crazy weekend so far, Kevin not able to race, but Emmanuelle able to help out, and what a great job she did, an excellent passenger for all the experience she has. And now I will race with my partner Ilse, she has raced with me before, and again, a great passenger. (With a grin on his face he also said) We have the best looking team in the paddock”
Sitting next to “Team Streuer” in fifth spot on the grid will be Michael Grabmuller and Sophia Kirchhofer on their “Polizisportverein Wels Delta Racing” LCR, Yamaha. They set a time of 1:37.143. The team did not have any problems with their machine. The team really did not do many qualifying laps, enough for their time, and to make sure their machine was all good. They were always back in the paddock before all the other teams. They are both looking forward to the races. Heading row three is Scott Lawrie and Ben Hughes on their “Team SLR” LCR, Suzuki. The team have had a trying weekend so far. Missing all of free practice, due to an electrical problem. So it was catch up all the time for qualifying. The team also came back to the paddock early in qualifying one. Driver Scott thought he herd some strange noises coming from the engine, but when back in the paddock nothing could really be found. The second qualifier went well for the team, even with a small off track excursion; they set a time of 1:37.747. Both Scott and ben are looking forward to the two races and hope they can get good points for their championship challenge.
A great qualifying for Peter Kimeswenger and Jens Lehnertz on their “Austria Sidecar Racing-MRSC-Gunskirchen” LCR, Kawasaki. Seventh spot on the grid, with a time of 1:38.870. They did not have any machine problems. There lap times have been faster with every visit to the track, but all the other teams have improved their lap times, but they are happy with their position on the grid.The final spot on row three goes to Lewis Blackstock and Patrick Rosney on their “Dave Holden Racing” LCR, Suzuki. Once again the “rookie team” are the fastest of the short chassis bikes. They set a time of 1:39.611. They had a trouble free qualifying improving their times with every visit to the track until maybe five minutes remaining in qualifying two when their machine came to a halt with total electrical failure. Lewis and Patrick are quite confident they know what the problem is and hope a quick fix will be all they need to rectify their problem.
Heading row four with a time of 1:40.295 is Gunther Bachmaier and Helen Deeley on their “MSV-Schwanenstadt, PSV-Wels” LCR, Suzuki. The team are happy with how things have gone over the weekend so far, and hope that they can have a good race and get some good points.
Sitting next to Bachmaier and Deeley in tenth spot, is Estelle Leblond and Melanie Farnier on their “Racing Side 11” SGR, Suzuki. They set a time of 1:40.886. All has gone well for the team over the weekend. And with no problems with their machine, they hope the race will be the same for them and more world championship points. The 12 lap sprint race will start at 11:30 local time, tomorrow, (Saturday)