Josef Sattler and his 18-year-old passenger Luca Schmidt are the 2021 IDM Sidecar champions. The class final at the Bonovo Action Sidecar Festival in Oschersleben couldn’t have been more dramatic. What looked like a walk in the park on paper turned into a nail-biter in the end.
Title favorite Sattler (Adolf RS F1) wanted to have everything wrapped up after the first of the two races. He did anticipate a victory by his rivals, eight-time world champions Tim Reeves and Kevin Rousseau (Adolf RS F1). In that case, however, a third-place finish would have been enough for Sattler to secure the title. That seemed achievable.
But as is so often the case, things just didn't go the Bavarian's way. The main fairing of the sidecar, which surrounds the safety oil pan, hadn’t fully slid into place before the first run. In the first fast right-hand turn, so much centrifugal force was generated that the fairing was practically pried loose. After that, the exhaust no longer flowed where it was supposed to, but directly into the fairing and into Sattler’s face.
“My eyes were watering like crazy,” Sattler says, continuing, “Then I made some driving mistakes and the fender crumbled too. All I wanted was to finish the race in decent shape.” The result: eighth place. Reeves had won.
Sattler was now literally out of the running. If Reeves won again, Sattler would have to finish at least tenth in the season-deciding final race to clinch the title. Otherwise, Reeves would be the champion. Questions were piling up ahead of the second race. Would the car hold up? Would there be any collisions? Who might interfere?
After 14 laps, the outcome was clear. Reeves won the race ahead of Bennie Streuer and Jeroen Remmé (Adolf RS F1). Sattler finished third and was subsequently crowned the 2021 IDM Sidecar Champion alongside Luca Schmidt. “I didn’t get off to a great start,” he said, relieved and happy that everything had worked out. “At first we were in sixth place, but then I decided to push after all. For the season finale and as champion, I really wanted to be on the podium.”
Josef Sattler and Luca Schmidt won the IDM Sidecar championship with 201 points, ahead of Tim Reeves and Kevin Rousseau (190) and Markus Schwegler and Ondrej Kopecky (156).