The first round of the 2011 FIM Sidecar World Championship Series will be held on the german track of Schleizer Dreieck. 18 Teams will compete during two races, a Sprint Race (11 laps) on Saturday 14 May and a Gold Race (22 laps) on Sunday 15 May.
A great show is expected between the 2010 FIM World Champions (P. Païvärinta/ A. Hänni) and their challengers:
| N° | Team Name | Driver | NAT | Passenger | NAT (FMN) | Chassis/Engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Team Suzuki Finland | Päivärinta Pekka | FIN | Hänni Adolf | SWI (DMSB) | LCR/Suzuki |
| 2 | Team Streuer | Streuer Bennie | NED | Endeveld Kees | NED | LCR/Suzuki |
| 3 | Santander Salt | James Barry | GBR | Winn Jamie | GBR | LCR/Suzuki |
| 4 | BEM Racing | Pichler Bernhard | AUT | Pichler Mario | AUT | RSR/Suzuki |
| 7 | Gallerne 6 Avenue | Gallerne Philippe | FRA | Wilson Gary | GBR (ACU) | RCN/Suzuki |
| 8 | Remse Racing | Remse Janz | SLO | Knapton Paul | GBR (ACU) | LCR/Yamaha |
| 12 | Hock Racing | Hock Kurt | GER | Becker Enrico | GER | LCR/Suzuki |
| 16 | Birchall Racing | Birchall Ben | GBR | Birchall Thomas | GBR | LCR/Yamaha |
| 18 | AKW Erdmann Racing | Kretzer André | GER | Kretzer Adrian | GER | Hock/Suzuki |
| 24 | AMD Kranj | Spendal Milan | SLO | Hill Peter | GBR (AMZS) | LCR/Suzuki |
| 27 | Lucky2Racing | Lawrie Scott | GBR | Neave James | GBR | LCR/Suzuki |
| 37 | Redline - RSR | Knight Gary | GBR | Knight Daniel | GBR | RSR/Suzuki |
| 56 | Sidecar-Racing-Team Rutz | Rutz Jakob | SWI | Wäfler Ueli | SWI | LCR/Yamaha |
| 61 | B.R. Team Beligum | Bertrands Hugues | BEL | Seret Sebastien | BEL | LCR/Suzuki |
| 72 | Team Schlosser/Hofer | Schlosser markus | SWI | Hofer Thomas | SWI | LCR/Suzuki |
| 77 | Tim Reeves Racing | Reeves Tim | GBR | Cluze Gregory | FRA | LCR/Honda |
| 66 | RSC-Kopack Racing | Roscher Mike | GER | De Hass Danny | NED | LCR/BMW |
| 11 | Sidecar-Racing-Team Tirol | Moser Josef | AUT | Walker Gerry | USA | LCR/Suzuki |
BIRCHALLS REPORT FOR SCHLEIZ
Ben and Tom Birchall are eagerly awaiting the first round of the 2011 FIM Sidecar World championship and head to Schleiz for the first two races in the series this week.
After making further improvements with the development of the bike the Mitchells of Mansfield brothers are keen to get their world championship challenge underway and would like to bring a second FIM world title back to Mansfield at the end of the season.
Ben and Tom won their first world title in 2009 and would like to add to that at the earliest opportunity. Ben said: We have been developing the bike over the past few weeks and are ready for the world championship. Tom is still suffering some discomfort with his knee and pelvis but after some intensive laser treatment is feeling a lot better and raring to go.
The Birchall brothers contested the first round of the British Championship at Brands Hatch recently and competed both races in second place. It gave them a chance to check the outfit was running smoothly and make any further adjustments prior to the world championship races at Schleiz.
Photos: Mark "Walli" Walters