At the Motorsport Arena, the stage is set for the final two races of the IDM Sidecar season. While the solo classes crowned their champions last weekend at Hockenheim, the 600cc sidecar teams are currently battling for the title at the Bonovo Action Sidecar Festival in the Magdeburg Börde region.
Practice is over. The first teams on the starting grid for Sunday’s races are Tim Reeves/Kevin Rousseau (Adolf RS F1), Bennie Streuer/Jeroen Remmé (Adolf RS F1), Josef Sattler/Luca Schmidt (Adolf RS F1), and Peter Kimeswenger/Kevin Kölsch (LCR F1).
For a long time, the path to the title seemed wide open for Sattler, but technical problems knocked the Bavarian off course, and Reeves (pictured left) made significant gains. If the eight-time world champion wins the first race tomorrow, “then I’ll need 16 points. That means I have to finish third. Then it would all be decided,” Sattler calculated. “In that case, I’d have a 26-point lead in the overall standings, and even if Tim were to win the second race as well, he wouldn’t be able to catch up to me.”
The catch is that the IDM Sidecar isn't a walk in the park. Even Markus Schwegler/Ondrej Kopecky (LCR F1) still have a mathematical chance of clinching the championship title. A lot can happen. And Sattler is fervently hoping that the mechanics on his sidecar will hold up and that he can settle the title race in his favor as early as the first of the two 14-lap races.
If that happens, he and his 18-year-old co-driver will also compete in the World Championship race, which takes place at the end of the event. That would be yet another highlight. As a precaution, the duo competed in the first World Championship qualifying session to secure a spot on the starting grid with a fast lap.