With less than one week since the last round at the Sachsenring, Germany, the world sidecar teams are on their way to the to the 4.740km Pannonia Ring in Hungary, opened in 1997 with motorcycle racing in mind, it is a fast flowing circuit and is close to the Austrian border.
Sachsenring saw a race win for Tim Reeves and Mark Wilkes in the wet, giving them a valuble 25 points to their championship campaign. They also stood on the second spot of the podium for the second race; these two podiums give them a 25 point lead over second place team of Pekka Paivarinta and Jussi Veravainen who now have 90 points in total, they stood on the podium twice in Germany with a second and third place. The Birchall Brothers, Ben and Tom had a good weekend in Germany too; they really got their championship back on course after a solid third place in the wet. The icing on the cake for them was the “Gold Race” win. This win brought their points tally to 84 in the championship. The championship is really close from fourth place to seventh; only four points separate the next teams.What a weekend in Germany for the Christie Brothers Sam and Adam. The rookie team is really getting on the pace; they are sitting fourth in the championship with 44 points. Germany saw them having two great fourth places, all new tracks for the team and again the Pannonia Ring will be new for them too. But knowing them they will be going hard at it for the best result.
Next up is Bennie Streuer and Kevin Rousseau, they have 43 points. Last time out was not good for the team, although picking up good points, the team struggled all weekend with tyre and handling issues. Lukas Wyssen and Thomas Hofer want to forget about the last round in Germany. They came to the Sachsenring, sitting fourth in the championship. But a lowly race one result and a DNF in race two saw the team slip to sixth place in the championship. They will be hoping for better in the Pannonia Ring.
Next up in this four bike battle is Janez Remse and Eamon Mulholland, thay have 40 points. The team have been really happy with their championship campaign so far. For passenger Mulholland, this is his first season at this level; the Irish man always has a big grin on his face after each session and race. The Pannonia Ring could be known maybe as Remse’s second local track after Grobnik in Croatia, so the team will be looking for a good weekend to keep the Irish smile on Mulhollands face. Six points down on Remse/Mulholland, in eighth place is Alan Founds and Tom Christie, the pair stood on the podium in the Slovakia Ring, and were hoping for the same in Germany. The team worked hard all throughout the weekend in Germany but what with the weather conditions, their results were the best they could have hoped for. Again a new circuit for the team, they will be hoping for a good weekend.
Jakob Rutz and Marcel Fries are sitting ninth so far in the championship. They have been working away steadily in the championship. They will be hoping for some solid results in the Pannonia Ring. Peter Kimeswenger and Jens Lehnertz, round of the top ten places so far in the championship. The team know the Pannonia ring well so they will be hoping to get good results and hopefully lift them up the championship rankings.
As like in the Sachsenring there will be two races at the Pannonia Ring, so a lot of points can be had for the teams to boost their championship hopes.
Mark Walters