It was a real battle. Andres Nussbaum and Manuel Hirschi (LCR F1 Suzuki) battled for the lead with John Smits and Gunter Verbrugge (RCN F1 Yamaha) in the early laps of Saturday’s race at the Schleizer Dreieck. Tim Reeves and Mark Wilkes (Adolf RS F1 Yamaha) watched from behind for a while, but then made short work of them. The seven-time world champion overtook his rivals, who were riding 1000cc machines, on his 600cc sidecar and pulled away. He won the race in his category ahead of Bennie Streuer/Kevin Rousseau (LCR F1 Kawasaki) and Josef Sattler/Uwe Neubert (Adolf RS F1 Kawasaki).
A podium finish was the best news the German duo could deliver to their advisor, Rolf Steinhausen, that day. The two-time sidecar world champion (1975 and 1976) turned 76 today. The whole thing nearly fell apart, as the team was locked in a fierce battle with the 1000cc sidecar of Smits/Verbrugge. Neither side wanted to back down. Meanwhile, Markus Schlosser and Marcel Fries were closing in from behind. Sattler grumbled: “Smits had nothing at stake at that moment, but for us it was all about third place ahead of Schlosser. He’s no competitor for us at all. I don’t understand why he didn’t just leave us alone.”
Mike Roscher/Anna Burkard (LCR F1 BMW) won the sidecar class for engines up to 1,000 cc. Nussbaum/Hirschi, who finished second, had already expected the Saxon rider to come out on top. “Unfortunately, I couldn’t find anything that would make us any faster,” said Hirschi. He leads the overall standings in the 1000cc class, had set the fastest time in his category during practice, and yet had a premonition. “Mike seems to get a bee in his bonnet down in the Seng, and then he takes off.” With his victory, Roscher is back in full swing in the title race. Smits/Verbrugge finished third in the first sidecar race of the IDM weekend at the Schleizer Dreieck.