When the Annual General Meeting of the Sidecar Racing Association (IGG) takes place on November 14, 2021, there will be some contentious issues on the agenda. In addition to electing a new board of directors, the future of the 1000 cm³ sidecar teams in the IDM will be discussed.
In the IDM, the high-displacement sidecars still had a home long after they were excluded from the World Championship. Now that’s hanging in the balance. At least six teams would need to come together to be allowed to compete in the 600 cm³ sidecar class in the future, according to IGG spokesperson Marcus Gerzack. He himself considers this plan rather unlikely. That’s because, as things stand now, the previous main contenders—Peter Schröder/Carolin Zimmermann, Michael Prudlik/Helmut Lingen, Jord Klok/Carmen Laudy, and Hilbert Talens/Frank Knarf—are moving over to the Sidecar Trophy.
So what will become of former champion Mike Roscher? Together with his co-driver Anna Burkard, he’s the cream of the crop in the 1,000 cm³ class and has repeatedly managed to defeat even the more agile and modern 600 cm³ teams. At the IDM round in Most, the Saxon won both races ahead of Josef Sattler/Luca Schmidt and Michael Grabmüller/Nicola Bidault, as well as Markus Schwegler/Ondrej Kopecky.
Roscher currently expects there to be a Cup standings category for six 1000 cm³ sidecars. If fewer participants sign up, the teams would be admitted as guest riders competing outside the standings—just as before. Roscher also has Swiss rider Andres Nussbaum on his list for 2022, as well as Helmut Lingen, who would compete in the IDM in addition to the Trophy. However, Roscher also makes it clear that he’s “fed up” with any kind of games being played during the season. That’s why he’s taking some time to think things over. Clarity is expected to be provided at the IGG conference. The final decision, however, rests with the DMSB.
Roscher won’t be following the trend toward 600cc bikes, even though Anna Burkard has owned a chassis for that class for years and Roscher has a Suzuki K7 engine of his own. “The engine puts out 115 PS at the rear wheel. You don’t even need to start with that. And I’m not going along with the current trend toward more powerful bikes.”