The first race of the IDM Sidecar series in Austria featured thrilling duels and close passing maneuvers at the World Championship level. Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clèment (Santander Salt/LCR F1, 600 cm³) won by a clear margin of over nine seconds ahead of the field, where the competition was all the more intense.
A poor start caused Ellis/Clèment to fall back from pole position behind Pekka Päivärinta/Ilse De Haas (44-racing/LCR R6, 600 cm³) and Tim Reeves/Kevin Rousseau (Bonovo Action Team/Adolf RS F1), before they were able to fight their way back to the front despite difficult track conditions with wet patches. From that point on, there was no holding back for the British-French sidecar team, which ultimately benefited from the battles between Reeves/Rousseau, Päivärinta/De Haas, and Markus Schlosser/Marcel Fries (Team Schlosser/LCR F1, 600 cm³). “Nothing better could have happened to us than winning right away in our first guest appearance in the IDM,” co-driver Emmanuelle Clèment beamed at the award ceremony. This is the duo’s first time at the Red Bull Ring.
Tim Reeves and his teammate Kevin Rousseau secured second place after thrilling battles with Pekka Päivärinta. Since Ellis/Clèment, as guest starters, are not included in the points standings, the full points went to Reeves/Rousseau, who—as in the World Championship—have also submitted a permanent entry for the IDM. “The race was fun, even though it was a bit slippery and I made a mistake or two,” said Tim Reeves. The eight-time world champion is celebrating his 49th birthday today.
Markus Schlosser and Marcel Fries fought their way to third place. The World Championship leaders managed to pass Päivärinta/De Haas just before the end of the race. Behind the Finn, the first 1000 cm³ sidecar team crossed the finish line, ridden by Mike Roscher and Anna Burkard (LCR F1 – 1000).
Josef Sattler and Luca Schmidt (Bonovo Action Team/Adolf RS F1) finished the race in sixth place. For the leading duo in the IDM, this meant another 18 points added to their tally. “After our two retirements at Assen, our goal is to score points at Spielberg,” Sattler explained with satisfaction. The Bavarian had to deal with two engine failures at Assen. “Now we’re working on getting both engines back to peak performance so that we’ll be competitive again at the IDM finale in Hockenheim and can go head-to-head with the World Championship elite.”
Max Zimmermann and Julian Trummer (Adolf RS F1, 600 cm³) secured 13th place. This was a surprisingly good result, given that the two had only spontaneously teamed up on Friday in Spielberg. Trummer had never previously served as a passenger in a sidecar.
What happens next will be decided on Sunday at 4:50 p.m. The race will be broadcast on the IDM livestream at www.idm.de/live.
IDM Sidecar, Race 1 Results:
- ELLIS/CLÈMENT (GBR/FRA)
- REEVES/ROUSSEAU (GBR/FRA)
- SCHLOSSER/FRIES (CHE/CHE)
- PÄIVÄRINTA/DE HAAS (FIN/NLD)
- ROSCHER/BURKARD (GER/SUI)