FIM/IDM Sidecar: Kershaw/Charlwood Take Pole Position in a Flash

The FIM and IDM sidecars are set to compete in their next round as part of the Sidecar Festival at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. Stephen Kershaw and Ryan Charlwood (Kershaw Racing/LCR Yamaha) secured pole position on Saturday. Despite strong winds, the British duo dominated both practice sessions and left no doubt that they feel completely at home on the circuit in the Magdeburg Börde region. “I’m surprised myself, since the last two years here have always been difficult for us. But today, everything just clicked,” said Stephen Kershaw with satisfaction. With a lap time of 1:31.764 minutes, they set the pace.

Defending champions Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clement (Team Ellis/Clement/LCR Yamaha) will start the races from second place. Only 0.353 seconds separated them from the leaders. Ellis had to contend not only with strong gusts of wind during practice but also with a cold. Sam and Tom Christie (Hannafin Racing/LCR Yamaha) narrowly missed out on the second starting position. With a gap of just 0.1 seconds, they were only a hair’s breadth away from catching up to Ellis/Clement.

While Lennard Göttlich and his passenger Uwe Neubert (Team Bonovo Action Team/LCR Yamaha) tirelessly chased lap after lap, two teams—Tim Reeves and Mark Wilkes (Team Bonovo Action Team/ARS Yamaha) and Ted and Vincent Peugeot (Seventy-Four Racing Team/LCR Yamaha)—remained in their pits during the second qualifying session. Both were struggling with technical issues, which is why they decided to rely on their times from the first qualifying session. Reeves will therefore start from seventh position, followed by Ted Peugeot in eighth. Lennard Göttlich secured tenth place.

The 12-lap sprint race will take place this Saturday afternoon at 4:50 p.m. and will be streamed live for free at www.idm.de/live.

FIM/IDM Sidecar, Qualifying Results: