FIM/IDM Sidecar: Payne/Rousseau Secure Pole Without a Hitch

The fastest lap time of 1:45.171 minutes, set by Harry Payne and Kevin Rousseau the day before, remained unchallenged in the second qualifying session of the FIM/IDM Sidecar series at Assen. Despite time improvements by some teams, the Steinhausen Racing Team sidecar remained in the lead and, thanks to several modifications to the sidecar, secured pole position for the upcoming races. “We completely overhauled the electronics in the two weeks following Spielberg, and that has already paid off for us in the first practice sessions,” Payne said afterward.

Tim Reeves and Mark Wilkes (Team Bonovo Action Team/ARS Yamaha) were also unable to improve their lap times any further. They maintained their narrow gap of 0.089 seconds, which means they will start the afternoon’s sprint race from second position.

Although Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clement (Team Bonovo Action Team/ARS Yamaha) managed to set a new fastest lap, they were unable to fully make up the six hundredths of a second deficit from the previous day, so they will continue to start from third place with a lap time of 1:45.139 minutes. Sam and Tom Christie (Hannafing Racing/LCR Yamaha) also failed to make a significant leap forward. They will start the races from fourth position.

The top four positions remained unchanged after the second qualifying session, but there were changes in the positions below them. Stephen Kershaw and Ryan Charlwood (Kershaw Racing/LCR Yamaha) were the cause of this, as although they improved their lap times, they were unable to break the 1:45-minute mark. Unlike their competitors, they remained just above that mark with a time of 1:46.069, causing them to drop from fifth to seventh place. This allowed Tom Birchall and Callum Crowe (Wyckham Blackwell by Birchall) to capitalize and move up to fifth place.

After experiencing technical problems again during Friday’s first practice session, things went better for Bennie Streuer and Kevin Kölsch (Streuer Racing/ARS Yamaha) in Q2. They ultimately secured sixth place. Ted and Vincent Peugeot (Seventy-Four Racing Team/LCR Yamaha), on the other hand, were forced to retire due to a technical issue right at the start of the session, but were still able to hold on to eighth place.

ENGLISH

The fastest lap time of 1:45.171 minutes, which Harry Payne and Kevin Rousseau had already set the day before, remained unbroken in the second qualifying session of the FIM/IDM Sidecar race at Assen. Despite time improvements by some teams, the Steinhausen Racing team retained the lead and secured pole position for the upcoming races with a few changes to the sidecar. “We completely updated the electronics in the last two weeks after Spielberg, which already paid off for us in the first practice sessions,” Payne said afterward.

Tim Reeves and Mark Wilkes (Team Bonovo Action Team/ARS Yamaha) were also unable to improve their lap times. They maintained the narrow gap of 0.089 seconds, which is why they will start the afternoon’s sprint race in second place.

Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clement (Team Bonovo Action Team/ARS Yamaha) managed to set a new fastest lap, but they were unable to fully close the gap of six hundredths from the previous day, which is why they will continue to start from third place with a lap time of 1:45.139 minutes. Sam and Tom Christie (Hannafing Racing/LCR Yamaha) were also unable to make significant progress. They will start the races from fourth position.

The top four positions remained unchanged after the second qualifying session, but there were changes in the lower ranks. Stephen Kershaw and Ryan Charlwood (Kershaw Racing/LCR Yamaha) led the charge as they improved their lap times but were unable to break the 1:45 mark. Unlike their rivals, they finished just above that mark with a time of 1:46.069, which caused them to drop from fifth to seventh place. This allowed Tom Birchall and Callum Crowe (Wyckham Blackwell by Birchall) to move up and finish fifth.

After another technical problem during the first practice session on Friday, things went better for Bennie Streuer and Kevin Kölsch (Streuer Racing/ARS Yamaha) in Q2. They ultimately held on to sixth place. Ted and Vincent Peugeot (Seventy-Four Racing Team/LCR Yamaha), on the other hand, were eliminated right at the start of the practice session due to a technical issue, but were able to maintain eighth place.

World Championship/IDM Sidecar, Qualifying 1: