With bright sunshine basking the 4,168km circuit. There was drama for the third fastest qualifying team of John Holden and Stuart Ramsey. They had to change the engine on their “Sillicone/Barnes Racing” machine. With the three minute board being shown Holden and Ramsey were just getting their leathers and helmets on, they made the grid just in time.
They were to have a good race, considering the panic just before. Holden and Ramsey battled hard throughout the race and were to finish in seventh place. Also Tony baker and Fiona Baker Milligan changed their engine before the race on their “Cumbria Express” Baker, Suzuki, it was all go in their pit box as they are sharing with Holden and Ramsey. Baker and Baker Milligan were to finish the race in fourth place in the FIM Sidecar F2 World Trophy class.
When the lights went out it was pole sitter Markus Schlosser and Thomas Hofer on their “Sidecar Racing Team Schlosser” LCR, Suzuki who got the hole shot into the first corner followed by Tim Reeves and Gregory Cluze on their “Remse Racing Team” LCR, Yamaha, who got a great start from fourth spot on the grid. Reeves and Cluze were to pull into pit lane at the end of lap two with their exhaust loose. With repairs made they would rejoin the race, but they were to finish in thirteenth place one lap down.
Another team who had bad luck was Sean Hegarty and James Neave on their “Hegarty Racing” LCR, Suzuki. As the lights changed their gear change broke off the line, they pulled in after lap one. Josef Sattler and Uwe Neubert on their “Sattler Motorsport PSV Wells” LCR, BMW got a good start in the race but were to crash out on lap two at the first corner, Sattler and Neubert were uninjured in the incident and hope to race in the “Gold Race” on Sunday.
By the end of the race it was still Schlosser and Hofer in full command. They would take the chequered flag for the win, with an overjoyed Schlosser saying, “This is great to be back on the top spot of the podium again, we had a trouble free race, but the back tyre was just starting to go off a little. I hope we can do the same tomorrow”
Second place went to Sebastien Delannoy and Kevin Rousseau on their “Team Sand Seb 72” LCR, Suzuki. They too had a trouble free race, but again, as Schlosser, their tyres were starting to go off. Third place was to go to Pekka Paivarinta and Kirsi Kainulainen with their “44-Racing” LCR, BMW. They had tyre trouble too, but it was getting a lot worse towards the end of the race with passenger Kainulainen having to tuck in behind driver Paivarinta, trying to get weight on the back wheel to stop it spinning.
A great result for Ben and Tom Birchall with their “Birchall Racing” LCR, Honda 600. They would finish the race in fourth place overall. But they take the win for the FIM Sidecar F2 World Trophy. They had a trouble free race but driver Ben did say “The race was good for us but we did notice that the rear tyre was starting to lose some grip towards the end of the race, but we are really happy with the result.”
Bennie Streuer and Geert Koerts would finish in fifth place in the race, but fourth in the FIM Sidecar World Championship class, on their “Team Streuer” LCR, Suzuki. Streuer said after, “The bike was great, but I am a bit frustrated, as we lost all grip with the rear tyre. We will need to have a look and see if there are any adjustments we can make to improve this for tomorrow’s race.”
Fifth place in the FIM Sidecar World Championship went to Billy Gallros and Gerard Daalhuizen on their “Sidecar Team Gallros-Daalhuizen” LCR, Suzuki. The team were really happy with the result and did not have any problems with their machine. With driver Gallros saying after, “We did not have any problems, and even the tyres felt good all through the race, I hope we can do, if not better tomorrow.” Mike Roscher and Anna Burkard had a trouble free race and were really happy with their sixth place in the FIM Sidecar World Championship class, with their “Roscher-Burkard/Penz 13 Racing” LCR, BMW.
In the FIM Sidecar F2 World Trophy. Michael Grabmuller and Sophia Kirchhofer on their “Polizeisportverein Wels Delta Racing Team” LCR, Yamaha were to DNF. After a good start they were to pull into pit lane after one lap. They have been having fuel problems all weekend. Their machine seems to be good for one or two laps then the problem strikes again.
With Grabmuller/Kirchhofer out it was Gunther Bachmaier and Manfred Wechselberger on their “MSV-Schwanenstadt/PSV-Wels” LCR, Suzuki 600. Who took second place. The team were overjoyed with the result and hope to do the same or better tomorrow.
Third place went to Eckart Rosinger and Steffen Werner on their “Team Early Grey” Baker, Suzuki. The team were really happy with the result, as they had big machine problems during free practice and qualifying. Sunday, there will be 18 lap “Gold Race”
Mark Walters