The first qualifying session for the sidecar class in the International German Motorcycle Championship at the Red Bull Ring was dominated by a guest-entry sidecar team. Todd Ellis and Emanuelle Clément (LCR F1, 600 cm³) pulled away from all their pursuers in Austria. The Briton, who secured second place at last weekend’s World Championship round in Rijeka, dominated the sidecar qualifying standings. “It was a great experience to ride on the track here in Austria for the first time,” Ellis said with satisfaction after the first qualifying session.
World Championship rivals Tim Reeves and Kevin Rousseau (Adolf RS F1, 600 cm³) took second place. The duo had already competed in the IDM Sidecar series at Assen, where they won both races. The next World Championship teams—Markus Schlosser and Marcel Fries (LCR F1, 600 cm³) as well as Pekka Päivärinta and Ilse Haas (LCR R6, 600 cm³)—followed closely behind. Schlosser leads the World Championship in the overall standings.
The IDM championship leaders, Josef Sattler and Luca Schmidt (Adolf RS F1, 600 cm³), rounded out the top 5 ahead of guest riders Mike Roscher and Anna Burkard on their 1000 cm³ LCR sidecar.
German driver Max Zimmermann (Adolf RS F1, 600 cm³) competed in the first qualifying session with a new lineup. Because his co-driver, Ferry Segers, was detained by authorities at the Dutch border and was not allowed to continue the journey, Julian Trummer spontaneously took Segers’ place as co-driver. Trummer is known as a solo driver and has competed in the TT on the Isle of Man in recent years.
The second qualifying session will take place tomorrow at 11:30 a.m., and the first race at 5:15 p.m.
IDM Sidecar, 1st Qualifying Session:
- ELLIS/CLÈMENT (GBR/FRA) 1:37.792 min
- REEVES/ROUSSEAU (GBR/FRA), +0.718 sec.
- SCHLOSSER/FRIES (CHE/CHE) +1.270 sec.
- PÄIVÄRINTA/DE HAAS (FIN/NLD) +1.306 sec.
- SATTLER/SCHMIDT (GER/GER), +1.832 sec.