The first qualifying session of the newly started FIM Sidecar World Championship season at the Sachsenring is already history. The British-French Steinhausen Racing Team, led by Harry Payne and Kevin Rousseau (Steinhausen Racing/ARS Yamaha), had the best results on Friday afternoon. With a lap time of 1:29.171 minutes, they set the pace in their tenth lap and maintained the lead thereafter. “The sidecar is running superbly and the track suits us well,” Harry Payne commented afterward on his performance. The team had already dominated the first free practice session in the morning, although they had to cut it short due to a faulty oil line.
Markus Schlosser and Luca Schmidt finished just 0.396 seconds behind the leaders. The new team pairing between the 2021 world champion—who had retired from sidecar racing two years ago—and the German Luca Schmidt, who had originally planned to compete alongside Patrick Werkstetter, came about unexpectedly. At the World Championship season opener in Le Mans two weeks ago, both riders were without a partner. They teamed up, lined up together at the start, and won. They returned home as World Championship leaders, and shortly thereafter the new pairing was officially confirmed.
The third-fastest time was set by brothers Sam and Tom Christie (Hannafin/LCR Yamaha), followed by Bennie Streuer and Kevin Kölsch (Streuer Racing/ARS Yamaha) as well as Pekka Päivärinta and his new co-driver, Briton Adam Christie (Hänni Racing/ARS Yamaha).
“Our goal is to finish at least seventh,” said Lennard Göttlich ahead of the first qualifying session. He knows the Sachsenring like the back of his hand—not least because he completed an eight-week internship here a few years ago. No sooner said than done: Together with passenger Lucas Krieg, the local hero duo (Bonovo Action Junior Team / ADAC Sachsen e.V. / ARS Yamaha) secured sixth place.
Next up is the second qualifying session, which takes place on Saturday morning at 10:15 a.m. That’s when we’ll finally find out who secures pole position. The sprint race starts at 2:45 p.m. and will be broadcast via the IDM live stream at www.idm.de/live.
[English]
The first qualifying session of the newly launched FIM Sidecar World Championship season at the Sachsenring is already in the books. The British-French Steinhausen Racing Team, led by Harry Payne and Kevin Rousseau (Steinhausen Racing/ARS Yamaha), had the best results on Friday afternoon. With a lap time of 1:29.171 minutes, they set the pace on their tenth lap and held onto the lead from there on. “The team is running superbly and the track suits us well,” said Harry Payne afterward, commenting on his performance. The team had already dominated the first Free Practice session in the morning, although they had to stop early due to a faulty oil line.
Markus Schlosser and Luca Schmidt finished just 0.396 seconds behind the front-runners. The new team pairing between the 2021 world champion, who retired from sidecar racing two years ago, and German Luca Schmidt, who originally intended to compete alongside Patrick Werkstetter, came as a surprise. At the season opener of the World Championship in Le Mans two weeks ago, both riders found themselves without a partner. They teamed up, started together, and won. They returned home as world championship leaders, and shortly thereafter the new pairing was officially confirmed.
The third-fastest time was set by brothers Sam and Tom Christie (Hannafin/LCR Yamaha), followed by Bennie Streuer and Kevin Kölsch (Streuer Racing/ARS Yamaha) and Pekka Päivärinta with his new co-pilots, Brit Adam Christie (Hänni Racing/ARS Yamaha).
“Our goal is to finish at least seventh,” said Lennard Göttlich before the first qualifying session. He knows the Sachsenring like the back of his hand—not least because he completed an eight-week internship here a few years ago. No sooner said than done: Together with co-driver Lucas Krieg, the local hero duo (Bonovo Action Junior Team / ADAC Sachsen e.V. / ARS Yamaha) secured sixth place.
The action continues with the second qualifying session, which will take place on Saturday morning at 10:15 a.m. That is when the final decision will be made as to who will take pole position. The sprint race starts at 2:45 p.m. and will be broadcast on the IDM live stream at www.idm.de/live.
Sidecar World Championship Results, Qualifying 1
1. PAYNE / ROUSSEAU (GBR/FRA)
2. SCHLOSSER / SCHMIDT (CHE/GER)
3. CHRISTIE / CHRISTIE (GBR/GBR)
4. STREUER / KÖLSCH (NLD/DEU)
5. PÄIVÄRINTA / CHRISTIE (FIN/GBR)
6. GÖTTLICH / KRIEG (GER/GER)
7. PEUGEOT / PEUGEOT (FRA/FRA)
8. ELLIS / CLÉMENT (GBR/FRA)
9. WYSSEN / SALMON (CHE/FRA)
10. LAIDLOW / LAIDLOW (GBR/GBR)