Reeves and Wilkes reign in wet

Sachsenring, Germany
Sprint Race report

The rain had stopped, but the track was still very wet for the 12 lap sprint race, here at the Sachsenring.
As the lights went out all the sidecar teams gingerly set off for the first complex of corners.  

It was Tim Reeves and Mark Wilkes on their “Adolf RS” Yamaha who were to emerge out in front, with Pekka Paivarinta and Jussi Veravainen with their “LCR” Honda right beside them. On the tail of Paivarinta/Veravainen was Ben and Tom Birchall with their “LCR”Yamaha.

There was a small gap then it was Lukas Wyssen and Thomas Hofer on their “LCR” Yamaha.  Lewis Blackstock and Patrick Rosney with their “LCR” Suzuki made a good start and slotted in behind Wyssen and Hofer.  Next up was three teams side by side, Alan Founds and Tom Christie “LCR” Yamaha, Scott Lawrie and Michael Fairhurst “LCR” Yamaha, and Bennie Streuer and Kevin Rousseau “LCR” Kawasaki.  

These three teams had to be careful running side by side in the wet conditions; one wrong move could have been disaster.  In the end though they sorted themselves out, and settled down to try and catch the leading group.  Fourth place on the grid Sam and Adam Christie on their “LCR” Yamaha had a bad start and were in ninth place by the time the other teams had exited the first complex of corners.

By the end of lap one the first three teams stayed in the same positions.  Further back though Lawrie /Fairhurst had blasted their way up to fourth place and were starting to make a gap between them and the now fast charging team in fifth place, the Christie Brothers.

As the race continued Paivarinta and Veravainen were trying their upmost to get up with Reeves and Wilkes, they did get close but with the track conditions it was wise to stay safe.  The Birchall Brothers were in a lonely third place, but it was a safe third barring any miss haps.

By the end it was a jubilant Reeves and Wilkes who took the race win from  a happy Paivarinta and Veravainen by only 1,112.  The Birchall Brothers took third spot; they in the end were having problems with their machine running wide into the corners from the front end.

Scott Lawrie and Michael Fairhurst  looked if they were going to bag fourth place, but on the last lap and on the last corner they were to DNF with electrical problems.  A bitter blow for the team, who were needing good points for their championship campaign.

With Lawrie/Fairhurst gone, a great result for The Christie Brothers, Sam and Adam, fourth place was a great result for the “Rookie Team”

Also a good result for Lewis Blackstock and Patrick Rosney, they came over the line in fifth place.  The team was happy with this result as the missed out at the last round in “Slovakia Ring” due to other commitments.

Bennie Streuer and Kevin Rousseau took sixth place, they too like the Birchall Brothers were having problems with front end grip.  Not the result the team wanted, but points for the championship.

Janez Remse and Eamon Mulholland with their “Adolf RS” Yamaha took seventh place.  The team are really pleased with this result.  They had a new back tyre for the race which they had not tried before.  As the lights went out driver Remse nearly stalled on the line.  But he managed to save it and got going, as the race progressed the team were able to make good progress and this was their result.

Wyssen/Hofer were to take eighth place, after their good start, they were to slip back down the field.  Driver Wyssen was not very happy with how the machine felt in the wet conditions, so it was best to slow a bit and take points for their championship campaign.

Founds/Christie took ninth place.  The team worked hard all through the race, but tyre grip was a problem for them in the end.  The team knew they rode well, and could not do any better, however the team are happy for the points for their championship.

Jakob Rutz and Marcel Fries took tenth place, again the team were happy, but wanted to do better.  But with the track conditions the way they were, a finish and points were good.