Tim Reeves has won his eighth Sidecar World Championship title. The British rider and his passenger, Mark Wilkes, won Saturday’s sprint race at the Sidecar World Championship finale in Estoril last weekend. He finished second in Sunday’s Gold Race. The British duo had already clinched the IDM Sidecar title early in August.
The IDM runner-up team of Markus Schlosser and Marcel Fries from Switzerland did not compete in Portugal. Schlosser had lost his co-driver at the IDM finale in Hockenheim. The challenges of traveling to Estoril and then, due to injury, being unable to handle the rigors of the race were simply too great. Nevertheless, the two Swiss drivers remained in fourth place in the overall World Championship standings.
The first year for German World Championship rookies Josef Sattler and Uwe Neubert ended with a surprise. After struggling with their bike, the team finished the season in 13th place at Estoril. In Saturday’s race, the Bavarian-Saxon duo crossed the finish line in seventh place. Afterward, the long-standing dream team went their separate ways.
Reeves plans to defend both the IDM and World Championship titles in 2020 and team up with Sattler, who is now looking for a new co-driver.