Tim Reeves and Kevin Rousseau (Bonovo Action Team/Adolf RS F1) were in a league of their own during Saturday night’s IDM sprint race in Most. The eight-time world champion and his passenger, who recently competed again at the Isle of Man TT, started from pole position and pulled away from the field. Only they themselves or a technical problem could have stopped the pair on their way to victory. Neither happened, and so the sidecar team won convincingly and by a wide margin.
Things went just as smoothly for Josef Sattler and Luca Schmidt (Bonovo Action Team/Adolf RS F1). Last year’s IDM champions finished second. Although they were far behind Reeves/Rousseau, they were just as far ahead of the rest of the field. Sattler, however, wasn’t entirely happy with today’s performance: “We’re currently a long way off the times we posted last year.” The reason for this remains a mystery to the German duo.
Meanwhile, the rest of the field was locked in a fierce battle: After a botched start by Peter Kimeswenger and Ondřej Sedláček (MRSC Gunskirchen SRT#11/LCR Yamaha), they made up ground and latched onto Max Zimmermann and Ronja Mahl (Team Zimmermann/Adolf RS) to regain their lost position. They finally pulled off a successful pass on lap three. No one else was able to catch up to them until the finish line. They rounded out the podium as the third-place team.
Behind Kimeswenger, however, the battles continued. After Max Zimmermann was forced to concede defeat to Kimeswenger, Markus Schwegler and Ondrej Kopecky (Motorsport Königswartha e.V./LCR Yamaha) were hot on their heels. At just the right moment, the two overtook Zimmermann/Mahl on the inside and left them behind. That marked the start of the battle. It didn’t take long for Zimmermann to launch a counterattack, which Schwegler wasn’t about to let slide. On the next attack, Schwegler braked too hard, a maneuver that also threw Zimmermann and Mahl off their game. Both ended up in the gravel trap but were able to continue the race immediately. In the end, the winners of the duel were young driver Lennard Göttlich and his passenger Uwe Neubert (Bonovo Action Team/Adolf RS F1, 600 cm³). They were in the right place at the right time and calmly passed the two sidecars. True to the saying, “When two quarrel, the third rejoices”—though they crossed the finish line in fourth place. Janez Remše and Manfred Wechselberger (REMSE RACING | PSV WELS/Adolf RS F1) also benefited and finished in fifth place. Zimmermann and Mahl followed behind them. Schwegler finished in eighth place.
IDM Sidecar, Sprint Race:
- REEVES/ROUSSEAU (GBR/FRA)
- SATTLER/SCHMIDT (DEU/DEU)
- KIMESWENGER/SEDLACEK (AUT/CZE)
- GÖTTLICH/NEUBERT (GER/GER)
- REMŠE / WECHSELBERGER (SLO/AUT)
- ZIMMERMANN/MAHL (GER/GER)
- PÄRM/LIPSTOK (EST/EST)
- SCHWEGLER/KOPECKY (GER/AUT)
- RUTZ/BILLICH (CHE/AUT)