Reeves and Cluze on pole

Perfect weather conditions saw the FIM Sidecar World Championship sidecar teams take to the track for two qualifying sessions at the “Cathedral” in Assen. It was Tim Reeves and Gregory Cluze on their “The Relocator” LCR, Kawasaki who took to the track first they were to have a trouble free first session and they set a time of 1:41.652. The team were very happy with how things went; with a tyre change for the second session they hoped that they would improve their time. Ben and Tom Birchall on their “Mitchell’s of Mansfield” LCR, Suzuki make their comeback here, driver Ben still with an injury to his right hand, did only four laps, but this was to see how his hand would stand up the pressures of racing, with only four laps they still put in a time of 1:43.736, to sit second to Reeves and Cluze. With this being their home track, the media pressures on Bennie Streuer and Geert Koerts did not show. They were to set a time of 1:45.033 on their “Team Streuer” LCR, Suzuki for third place, Both Bennie and Geert were very pleased with this time and they were hoping that in the second qualifying session they would greatly improve their time. As the second session was about to start there were spits of rain falling on the track, this was short lived though the sun came out and it was a full dry session with perfect track conditions. It was Ben and Tom Birchall who were first on track, on their second flying lap they set a great time of 1:41.778, their machine was set up perfectly for the track, the team did a total of seven laps in the session. Afterwards, Ben had pain in his hand; he said “the bike is going great; we will see how things go in the race, and hopefully my hand will last the distance, and we can get our championship hopes back on track” Although the Birchall’s set a great time it was Tim Reeves and Gregory Cluze who were to take pole position for the 16 lap race, they put in a blistering time of 1:40.969. Back in the paddock both Tim and Gregory were very pleased with this, Tim said after “we will do some changes to the machine before tomorrow’s race, and I hope that we can continue our winning run for the championship, we are both looking forward to the race tomorrow”. Third place on the grid goes to Bennie Streuer and Geert Koerts they set a time of 1:43.724. The team were overjoyed with this time, it is the fastest time they have done on their home track. Both Bennie and Geert are looking forward to the race, and with lots of support from the local fans they are hoping they can stand on the podium after the race. Fourth fastest time went to Petri Makkula and Harri Asumaniemi with their “Team Makkula” LCR, BMW, both Petri and Harri were happy with this and their machine is running well, Petri said afterwards “I hope I can improve on my start, I was not good in Croatia, I had to work hard for the results there, a good start here will be good for the team”. Following their success in Croatia fifth fastest time would go to Uwe Gurck and Manfred Wechselberger on their “Polizei Sport Verein Wels” LCR, BMW, the team were very happy, and with no problems with their machine, they are looking forward to the race and a good result. Sixth fastest time would go to Robert Zimmerman and Sander Faber they set a time of 1:47.190 on their “Zimmerman-Faber” LCR, Suzuki, both Robert and Sander were pleased with this, as they have not done many races this season so far. Seventh place on the grid would go to Jacob Rutz and Thomas Hofer on their “Sidecar Racing Team Rutz” LCR, Yamaha, they were reasonably happy with this, but hoped that they would be faster in the race. Mike Roscher and Anna Burkard will be eighth fastest on their “Roscher Hanni Racing” LCR, BMW; setting a time of 1:49.683 Next to them on the grid will be another local team, Wiggert Kranenburg and Jeroen Schmitz on their “Team Kranenburg” LCR, Yamaha. Phillipe Gallerne and Julien Chesneau with their “Team Gallerne” RCN, Suzuki set the tenth fastest time. It is a big step up for Estonian team Eero Parm and Mairon Meius, learning the track and trying to set a good time for the grid. They had an off track excursion at the last complex of corners on the track, going sideways in the gravel, driver Eero did a great job and kept the machine on all wheels and managed to re join the track to complete the session, they will start from thirteenth place on the grid, and are looking forward to the race. Text and photos by Mark Walters