The first race of the IDM Sidecar series in Austria featured thrilling battles and close overtaking maneuvers worthy of a world championship. Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clèment (Santander Salt/LCR F1, 600 cc) won by a comfortable margin of over nine seconds ahead of the field, where the competition was all the more intense.
A botched start saw Ellis/Clèment drop back from pole position behind Pekka Päivärinta/Ilse De Haas (44-racing/LCR R6, 600 cc) and Tim Reeves/Kevin Rousseau (Bonovo Action Team/Adolf RS F1), before they fought their way back to the front despite difficult track conditions with wet patches. From then on, there was no holding back for the British-French sidecar team, which ultimately also benefited from the battles between Reeves/Rousseau, Päivärinta/De Haas, and Markus Schlosser/Marcel Fries (Team Schlosser/LCR F1, 600 cc). “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 podium ceremony. The duo is at the Red Bull Ring for the first time.
Tim Reeves and his teammate Kevin Rousseau secured second place after a thrilling battle 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 entered a full-season entry in 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 secured third place. The World Championship leaders managed to overtake Päivärinta/De Haas just before the end of the race. Behind the Finn, the first 1000cc 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 an additional 18 points added to their tally. “After our two retirements in Assen, our goal is to score points in Spielberg,” Sattler explained with satisfaction. The Bavarian had to deal with two engine failures in 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 battle it out with the World Championship elite.”
Max Zimmermann and Julian Trummer (Adolf RS F1, 600 cc) finished in 13th place. This was a surprisingly good result, given that the two had only teamed up on the spur of the moment on Friday in Spielberg. Trummer had never previously served as a passenger in a sidecar.
We'll find out what happens next 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)