In the battle for the first victory in the Superside World Championship and IDM sprint race, Ben and Tom Birchall comfortably came out on top. Harry Payne and Kevin Rousseau provided a pleasant surprise. Tim Reeves, on the other hand, had some bad luck.
It seems there’s no stopping the Birchall brothers (Wyckham Blackwell by Birchall/LCR Honda) this first race weekend. The British duo won the sprint race in commanding fashion, finishing with a comfortable lead of just under ten seconds. Visibly pleased with the result, Tom Birchall said afterward: “Everything went perfectly, except for the start.” Because Ben Birchall didn’t get off to a great start, Harry Payne and Kevin Rousseau (Steinhausing Racing/ARS Yamaha) took the lead. But it didn’t take long for Birchall to launch a counterattack, and from that point on, he never relinquished the lead.
Harry Payne still had every reason to be happy. For the British rider, who lives on the Isle of Man, it was his first race at the Sachsenring, which he finished in second place. “Things went really well for us, and the track suits me,” said Payne. However, he also hinted that the sidecar’s setup still needed some fine-tuning.
Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clement (Team Ellis/Clement/LCR Yamaha) crossed the finish line in third place. However, last year’s world champions benefited from technical issues experienced by Tim Reeves and Mark Wilkes (Bonovo Action Team/ARS Yamaha) shortly before the finish. Veteran rider Reeves fought his way up from seventh place to third early on and steadily gained speed, allowing him to pull away from Ellis. In the penultimate lap, a mechanical failure finally occurred, forcing Reeves to watch as his pursuers passed him.
Pekka Päivärinta and Ilse de Haas (Bonovo Action Team/ARS Yamaha) finished fourth, though they struggled with significant rear-tire wear. Bennie Streuer and Kevin Kölsch (Streuer Racing/ARS Yamaha) came in fifth. They, too, experienced technical issues during qualifying, which is why they were only able to participate in some of the practice sessions.
Josef Sattler and Luca Schmidt’s (Bonovo Action Team/ARS Yamaha) sixth-place finish also secured the duo first place in the IDM standings. Lennard Göttlich and Lukas Krieg (Bonovo Action Team/ARS Yamaha) crossed the finish line in eighth place and finished second in the class championship behind Sattler. Behind them were Janez Remse and Manfred Wechselberger (Remse Racing & PSV WELS/ARS Yamaha), who finished ninth in the World Championship. Max Zimmermann and Ronja Mahl (Zimmermann Racing/ARS Yamaha) rounded out the top 10 in the World Championship and finished fourth in the IDM.
The action continues on Sunday. The second sidecar race will take place in the afternoon at 1:45 p.m. and will be streamed for free at www.idm.de/live.
English Version:
World Championship/IDM Sidecar: Birchall Wins, Reeves Crashes Out
In the battle for the first victory of the sprint race in the Superside World Championship and IDM, Ben and Tom Birchall dominated the field. Harry Payne and Kevin Rousseau provided a pleasant surprise. Tim Reeves, on the other hand, was unlucky.
The Birchall brothers (Wyckham Blackwell by Birchall/LCR Honda) seem to be unstoppable this first race weekend. The British riders won the sprint race with a commanding lead of nearly ten seconds. Visibly pleased with the result, Tom Birchall said afterward: “Apart from the start, everything went well.” Because Ben Birchall hadn’t started the race so well, Harry Payne/Kevin Rousseau (Steinhausing Racing/ARS Yamaha) took the lead. But it didn’t take long for Birchall to counterattack, and from then on he never relinquished the lead.
Harry Payne nevertheless had every reason to be happy. For the Briton, who lives on the Isle of Man, it was his first race at the Sachsenring, which he finished in second place. “It went really well for us, and the track suits me,” said Payne. However, he also let slip that the sidecar setup still needed some tweaking.
Todd Ellis/Emmanuelle Clement (Team Ellis/Clement/LCR Yamaha) crossed the finish line in third place. Last year’s world champions, however, benefited from technical problems experienced by Tim Reeves/Mark Wilkes (Bonovo Action Team/ARS Yamaha) shortly before the finish. The veteran Reeves fought his way up from seventh to third place at the start and steadily gained speed, allowing him to pull away from Ellis. Finally, on the penultimate lap, a mechanical issue occurred, which is why Reeves could only watch as his pursuers passed him.
Fourth place went to Pekka Päivärinta and Ilse de Haas (Bonovo Action Team/ARS Yamaha), but they were struggling with heavy rear-tire wear. Bennie Streuer and Kevin Kölsch (Streuer Racing/ARS Yamaha) finished fifth. They also experienced technical issues during qualifying, which is why they were only able to participate in part of the practice sessions.
Josef Sattler and Luca Schmidt (Bonovo Action Team/ARS Yamaha) finished sixth, which also secured them first place in the IDM standings. Lennard Göttlich and Lukas Krieg (Bonovo Action Team/ARS Yamaha) crossed the finish line in eighth place and took second place in the class championship behind Sattler. They were followed by Janez Remse and Manfred Wechselberger (Remse Racing & PSV WELS/ARS Yamaha), who finished ninth in the championship. Max Zimmermann and Ronja Mahl (Zimmermann Racing/ARS Yamaha) rounded out the top 10 in the WRC and finished fourth in the IDM.
The action continues on Sunday. The second sidecar race will take place in the afternoon at 1:45 p.m. and will be streamed for free at www.idm.de/live.
Sidecar World Championship, Sprint Race:
- Ben BIRCHALL/Tom BIRCHALL (GBR)
- Harry PAYNE/Kevin ROUSSEAU (GBR/FRA)
- Todd ELLIS/Emmanuelle CLEMENT (GBR/FRA)
- Pekka PÄIVÄRINTA/Ilse DE HAAS (FIN/NLD)
- Bennie STREUER/Kevin KÖLSCH (NLD/DEU)
- Josef SATTLER/Luca SCHMIDT (GER)
- John HOLDEN/Ashley HAWES (GBR)
- Lennard GÖTTLICH/Lukas KRIEG (GER)
- Janz REMSE/Manfred WECHSELBERGER (SLO/AUT)
- Max ZIMMERMANN/Ronja MAHL (GER)
IDM Sprint Race:
- Josef SATTLER/Luca SCHMIDT (GER)
- Lennard GÖTTLICH/Lukas KRIEG (GER)
- Janz REMSE/Manfred WECHSELBERGER (SLO/AUT)
- Max ZIMMERMANN/Ronja MAHL (GER)
- Rupert ARCHER/Adam CHRISTIE (GBR)