Sam and Tom Christie secured pole position in the second qualifying session on Saturday afternoon at the Schleizer Dreieck. IDM leaders Ted and Vincent Peugeot will start from third place.
Pole position in the Sidecar class of the International German Motorcycle Championship (IDM) at the Schleizer Dreieck belongs to road racing enthusiasts Sam and Tom Christie (Hannafin/LCR Yamaha). Although this is the British duo’s first time racing on Germany’s oldest natural race track, they quickly took to the ups and downs of the circuit. “It’s really fun to ride here. Especially down the Seng,” said Tom Christie with a smile after the second practice session. His brother Sam was also delighted with the pole position he secured on the final lap. But he was even more pleased that he had come through qualifying unscathed despite an upset stomach.
Markus Schlosser and Luca Schmidt (Team Schlosser/LCR Yamaha) will start from second place, 0.637 seconds behind. Schmidt, who hails from Zeulenroda and knows the area like the back of his hand, was in good spirits in the parc fermé and predicted perfect racing weather for the afternoon. “It has to stay dry; then it’ll be even more fun to race here in front of all the spectators,” said the 20-year-old, who now lives just 500 meters from the Schleizer Dreieck.
Unlike the Christies and Schlossers, who are competing as guest riders, the team of Ted and Vincent Peugeot (Seventy Four Racing Team/LCR Yamaha) is in it for crucial IDM points. They’ll start from third on the grid and hope to return home with a strong points haul once again this weekend. The father-son duo is aiming to defend their titles in both the German and French championships.
Lennard Göttlich and Lucas Krieg (Bonovo Action Junior-Team ADAC Sachsen e.V./ARS Yamaha) are also vying for crucial points in the IDM standings. They will start from seventh place, followed by Patrick Werkstetter and his German substitute co-driver Enrico Roick (Team Bonovo Action/Sattler Motorsport/ARS Yamaha).
The first race takes place on Saturday evening at 5:45 p.m. On Sunday, the action starts at 4:20 p.m. All races can be watched live and for free at www.idm.de/live.
IDM Sidecar Results, Qualifying 1 & 2
- CHRISTIE / CHRISTIE (GBR/GBR)
- SCHLOSSER / SCHMIDT (SUI/GER)
- PEUGEOT / PEUGEOT (FRA/FRA)
- STREUER / KÖLSCH (NLD/DEU)
- PÄIVÄRINTA / CHRISTIE (FIN/GBR)
- ELLIS / CLÉMENT (GBR/FRA)
- DIVINE / WAR (GER/GER)
- WERKSTETTER / ROICK (GER/GER)
- WIRTH / LÜTTKE (GER/GER)
- VENUS / SEDLACEK (GER/CZE)
- WEEKERS / MOERS (NLD/NLD)