Pekka Päivärinta and Luca Schmidt won the sprint race at the FIM Sidecar World Championship final in Estoril. Title contenders Ben Birchall and Tom Birchall finished second, keeping their hopes of winning the world title alive. Defending champions Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clement, who lead the overall standings, could have sealed the deal, but to do so they would have had to finish ahead of the Birchalls today. Everything is still up in the air. The decision in the Sidecar World Championship title race has thus been postponed until tomorrow. It remains exciting.
This has never happened before: Monja Schmidt, the mother of passenger Luca Schmidt, walked away from the team during the race to smoke a cigarette. What unfolded during the Sidecar World Championship sprint race in Estoril was too much for Mom’s nerves. After ten laps in 18:58.274 minutes, her only son was declared the winner alongside Pekka Päivärinta. The German champion and the five-time world champion were cheered and doused with champagne on the winner’s podium. Emmanuelle Clement immediately stuck the champagne bottle upside down into the 20-year-old German’s leather suit. Schmidt himself was completely perplexed and found himself surrounded by world champions. To his right were the second-place Birchall brothers; to his left, the defending champions Ellis/Clement, who finished third in the race.
Schmidt had, of course, traveled to Estoril hoping to finish as high up the order as possible alongside Pekka Päivärinta. He hadn’t even remotely considered the possibility of a victory. “When I looked around during the race on the second or third lap and saw that the others were way behind, I thought something was going wrong. I couldn’t believe it, but I didn’t dwell on it—I just kept going.”
The Birchall brothers gave it their all on the only Honda sidecar in the field, setting one fastest lap after another, but on the final lap, Päivärinta struck back with a lap time of 1:49.982. For the British riders, however, it was even more important to finish ahead of Ellis/Clement. The British pair was faster in the first sector, while the British-French duo was faster in the others. Ahead of tomorrow’s grand finale on Sunday, Ellis/Clement’s lead has shrunk from 22 to 16 points.
Behind the top three teams at the front, there were numerous changes in position, with the exception of Harry Payne and Kevin Rousseau, who were cruising along in fourth place like clockwork. Christie and Christie, Stephen Kershaw and Ryan Charlwood, and Bennie Streuer and Kevin Kölsch, on the other hand, were swapping positions.
Sprint Race Results:
1. PÄIVÄRINTA / SCHMIDT (FIN/GER)
2. BIRCHALL / BIRCHALL (GBR/GBR)
3. ELLIS / CLEMENT (GBR/FRA)
4. PAYNE / ROUSSEAU (GBR/FRA)
5. CHRISTIE / CHRISTIE (GBR/GBR)
6. STREUER / KÖLSCH (NLD/DEU)
7. KERSHAW / CHARLWOOD (GBR/GBR)
8. LEGLISE / CESCUTTI (FRA/FRA)
9. ARCHER / CHRISTIE (GBR/GBR)
10. FRETAY / FENOY CASAS (FRA/FRA)
FIM Sidecar: Päivärinta Wins and the Birchalls Give It Their All
Pekka Päivärinta and Luca Schmidt won the sprint race. Second place went to title contenders Ben Birchall and Tom Birchall, who still have a chance to win the World Championship title. Defending champions Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clement could have sealed the deal, but to do so they would have had to finish ahead of the Birchalls today. The outcome of the Sidecar World Championship title race is thus postponed until tomorrow. It remains exciting.
This has never happened before: Monja Schmidt, the mother of co-driver Luca Schmidt, left the team during the race to go smoke a cigarette. What unfolded at the Sprint Race of the Sidecar World Championship in Estoril was too much for Mom to handle. After ten laps in 18:58.274 minutes, her only son emerged victorious alongside Pekka Päivärinta. The German champion and the five-time world champion were cheered and doused with champagne on the podium. Emmanuelle Clement placed the champagne bottle upside down into the 20-year-old German’s leather suit. Schmidt himself was completely bewildered and found himself surrounded by world champions. To his left were the second-place Birchall brothers, to his right the defending champions Ellis/Clement in third place. Schmidt had, of course, traveled to Estoril hoping to finish as far ahead as possible with Pekka Päivärinta. He hadn’t even begun to think about a victory. “When I looked around during the race on the second or third lap and saw that the others were far behind, I thought something was going wrong. I couldn’t believe it, but I didn’t dwell on it—I just kept going.”
The Birchall brothers gave it their all in the only Honda team in the field, setting one fast lap after another, but on the final lap, Päivärinta struck back with a lap time of 1:49.982. For the Brits, however, it was even more important to finish ahead of Ellis/Clement. In the first sector, the Brits were faster; in the others, the British-French pairing held the edge. Ahead of tomorrow’s grand final on Sunday, Ellis/Clement’s lead has shrunk from 22 to 16 points.
Behind the top three teams at the front, there were numerous changes in position, with the exception of Harry Payne and Kevin Rousseau, who ran like clockwork in fourth place. Christie and Christie, Stephen Kershaw and Ryan Charlwood, and Bennie Streuer and Kevin Kölsch, on the other hand, swapped positions.