Once again the weather was kind for the 17 lap “Gold Race” in Assen. Packed grand stands again too.
As the lights went out it was Pekka Paivarinta and Jussi Veravainen with their “LCR” Honda, who got the lightning start into the first complex of corners, they were followed by Ben and Tom Birchall with their “LCR” Yamaha, Bennie Streuer and Kevin Rousseau with their “LCR” Kawasaki got the better of Tim Reeves and Mark Wilkes on their “Adolf RS” Yamaha. This did not last though, Reeves and Wilkes passed Streuer and Rousseau before the lap was over, they also passed Paivarinta and Veravainen, who had already been passed by the Birchall Brothers.
John Holden and Lee Cain with their “LCR” Kawasaki slotted into fifth place. This was to be the position they would stay in for the whole 17 laps of the race. It could be said that they were to have a lonely race out on their own. But maybe this was to be good for the team, due to all the action that was to happen all around them.
With the top five teams out in front, there was to be a real “dingdong” of a battle going on behind, between seven teams. First up were Lewis Blackstock and Patrick Rosney with their “LCR” Suzuki, then it was Alan Founds and Tom Christie with their “LCR” Yamaha, then it was Lukas Wyssen and Thomas Hofer on their “LCR” Yamaha, next up was Scott Lawrie and Emmanuelle Clement on their “LCR” Yamaha, they were followed by the Christie Brothers, Sam and Adam on their “LCR” Yamaha, then it was Janez Remse and Eamon Mulholland with their “Adolf RS” Yamaha, last but not least in this group was Michael Grabmuller and Sebastien Lavorel with their “LCR” Yamaha. These teams were to swap places throughout the early stages of the race. With such close racing the inevitable was to happen, what they call in sidecar racing, “There was a bit of fairing bashing going on” but all teams worked their way through this, and no team was to suffer from these small “fairing bashing” escapades.
On lap eight of the race, Founds and Christie were to pull out for a DNF. Passenger Tom Christie was suffering from some injuries sustained in an accident during a race in his domestic British sidecar championship. He did really well throughout the weekend to do what he did.
At the front the battle between the Birchall Brothers, Reeves and Wilkes, Paivarinta and Veravainen was hotting up. Reeves/Wilkes were right on the tail of the Birchall Brothers and trying for the pass for the lead. Paivarinta/Veravainen had dropped back a little but were not out of the race my any means. Reeves and Wilkes had passed the Birchall Brothers for the lead in lap six, but the Birchall’s retook the lead. The battle raged on, there was contact between the Birchall Brothers and Reeves/Wilkes during an overtake move into the “Geert Timmer’ chicane. Paivarinta and Veravainen were ready to pounce if any team were to run off track, thankfully this did not happen. After this maneuver Reeves and Wilkes fell back a little, but it was not long before they got their composure back and were right on the case of the Birchall Brothers again.
On lap 13 of the race the Birchall Brothers, still out in front were to have a glitch, their machine slowed dramatically. This let Reeves/Wilkes through for the lead and they were followed by Paivarinta/Veravainen too. The Birchall Brothers managed to solve their problem and were back up to full speed again, but the damage had been done.
As the race came to an end, a delighted Reeves and Wilkes took the race win, thus extending their grip on the championship title. Also a delighted Paivarinta and Veravainen were to take second spot. The Birchall Brothers had worked hard all weekend setting the fastest qualifying times and it looked like a race win was on the cards for the team, but third was the best they could do after their problem during the race.
Fourth place went to local man Bennie Streuer and his passenger Kevin Rousseau, they got a rapturous reception from the spectators on the slowing down lap showing their appreciation for what the team had done during the race. A good result for the team considering they had been upside down the day before.
A good solid fifth place for John Holden and Lee Cain. The team did not have any problems during the race and they enjoyed the race.
Blackstock and Rosney looked like they would take sixth place but this was not to be they had gear change problems and had to pull off track completing 14 laps.
Scott Lawrie and Emmanuelle Clement managed to break away from the battles behind them and took a great sixth place. This was to be passenger Clement’s first full world championship race; the team were really pleased with the result.
Another solid result for Remse and Mulholland, they too broke away from the group battle and they were catching Lawrie/Clement by the end of the race but it was too much for the team, so seventh place was the best they could do. But again the team is happy with this.
Eighth place went to Wyssen and Hofer, they arrived back into pit lane after the race with a well battered fairing, they had been in the wars. But the team were happy with the result and the finish.
Sam and Adam Christie took ninth place, again the team were happy, it was a long race and with all the battling they had, good points for their championship campaign.
Tenth place went to Grabmuller and Lavorel, again the team were happy, another finish and no mishaps during the race.
Peter Kimeswenger and Jens Lehnertz on their “LCR” Kawasaki, took eleventh place. They were happy with this as they had problems with their fairing during qualifying and had to make some extensive repairs before the race.
Jakob Rutz and Marcel Fries took twelfth place on their “LCR” Yamaha, the team enjoyed the race and were happy with the result.
One lap down but a finish in thirteenth place for Kees Endeveld and Jerome Remme on their “Adolf RS” Kawasaki. The team were really happy with this as they had not done any testing with their all new chassis and new to them the 600cc format.
The next round will be in Croatia, the 8th and 9th of September, and there will be two races.
Mark Walters, for FIM