There should be some thrilling action in Rijeka this Saturday 14 June as the teams vie for precious points in this third round of the 2014 FIM Sidecar World Championship.

Inland from the Adriatic coast and with stunning views of the mountains all round the circuit, south of Rijeka in Croatia, the 4.168km “Automotodrom Grobnik” circuit opened in 1978 and the Yugoslavian motorcycle GP was held there until 1990. In the past the track has been known to be hard on man and machine, and the 15-turn abrasive surface is very hard on tyres. Air temperatures get up into the high 30’s and track temperatures can climb into the 70’s.

After round two at Britain’s Donington Park, British pair Ben and Tom Birchall have a four-point lead over rivals Tim Reeves and Gregory Cluze who just pipped them to the post on their home turf. These two teams left Donington right after the race to compete at the Isle of Man TT races, where Reeves and Cluze finished race one in third and a good fourth in race two. Unfortunately for the Birchall brothers, things did not go so well on the iconic Island course. Despite a successful week of practice, the brothers were involved in a high speed crash in race one, and both Ben and Tom were airlifted to hospital for treatment. Tom was released from hospital battered and bruised, but Ben sustained severe damage to his right hand. He has undergone surgery and the damaged bones have been plated and pinned. The duo nevertheless hopes to travel to Croatia to defend their World Championship lead.

With only nine points separating the top three teams, and with a two-race format at this meeting, the second and third placed teams will be looking to capitalise on the less than 100% race-fit Birchall brothers’ title lead. Third in the Championship, Jörg Steinhausen and Axel Kölsch from Germany will be hoping for a big points tally here. Fellow Germans Kurt Hock and Enrico Becker looked as if they were going to be on the rostrum at Donington Park until they ran wide at the last corner on the last lap, letting Steinhausen through for third; Hock and Becker sit fourth in the Championship. In the past though, they have not had much luck at this circuit, with last year being their worst ever when a crash dashed their Championship hopes. Only four points behind Hock and Becker is the German-Austrian duo Uwe Gürck and Manfred Wechselberger; they have been getting steadily faster on their new machine, and with the chance of good points from two races here they will be hoping to climb further up the Championship table.

One of three teams who will be hoping for two race results here are the Dutch team of Bennie Streuer and Geert Koerts, as they have only had one result so far this season and are currently ninth in the Championship. Another is the Finnish pairing of Petri Makkula and Harri Asumaniemi who managed to salvage some points in Spain, but are way off the points after a DNF at Donington. Finally, for Janez Remse and Jamie Biggs, two good results here are vital as they have had two DNF’s so far this season. The Slovenian driver Janez will have plenty of support here as this is regarded as his home track.


Will the Burchalls fend off the challengers and will the early season’s lower scorers surge up the field? Whatever the outcome, the fans who gather in Rijeka will witness two suspenseful races at this all-Sidecar event.


Words and pictures by Mark Walters
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Birchalls, will not be competing at this round

Championship leaders Ben and Tom Birchall, will not be competing at this round due to injuries sustained by Ben at the IOM TT races. Another team not competing here will be Kurt Hock and Enrico Becker, driver Kurt has an injury to his leg.

The sun shone on the 4,168km circuit of “Automotodrom Grobnik for free practice. “Steinhausen Racing” Jorg Steinhausen and Axel Kolsch opted not to take to the track for free practice, with Jorg suffering from a nerve infection in his back; he is hoping it will have eased for qualifying tomorrow.

It was Tim reeves and Gregory Cluze on their “The Relocator” LCR, Kawasaki, who set the fastest time of 1:34.345, in the free session; they will be doing some small adjustments to their machine for tomorrows qualifying. Second to them was Petri Makkula and Harri Asumanie on their “Makkula Racing” LCR, BMW, they had the session on old tyres to formularise themselves with the track again. Third fastest was Jakob Rutz and Thomas Hofer on their “Rutz Racing” LCR, Yamaha.

With qualifying tomorrow times are bound to get faster. However the weather has been a mix of glorious sunshine, with some thundery showers mixed in. All teams will be hoping it stays dry.

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Reeves and Cluze take Pole Position

The first qualifying practice got under way in perfect conditions at the 4,168km “Automotodrom Grobnik” circuit. Only after three minutes of the session starting though, the red flags came out, Janez Rems e and Jamie Biggs on their “Remse Racing” LCR, Yamaha crashed out at the first corner, driver Janez was ok and returned to pit lane with the extensively damaged machine, passenger Jamie Biggs however was taken to hospital with suspected broken hip and damage to his arm.

As the session got underway again it was Tim Reeves and Gregory Cluze on their “The Relocator” LCR, Kawasaki who set the pace with a time of 1:33.414 on their second flying lap; it was short lived though as Jorg Steinhausen and Axel Kolsch on the “Steinhausen Racing” LCR, BMW were to put in a time of 1:33.375 on the next lap. Bennie Streuer and Goert Koerts on their “Team Streuer” LCR, Suzuki were putting in some solid lap times and were to set the third fastest time of 1:35.927, the team were happy with this and are looking forward to the race this afternoon. Petri Makkula and Harri Asumanie on the “Team Makkula” LCR, BMW set a time of 1:36.017 on their second flying lap. As the session continued Reeves and Cluze were watching the times in pit lane wondering whether to go back out on track and improve on their time.

Steinhausen and Kolsch were back in pit lane too. They were to get back out on track again, and on their first flying lap they were to have a massive crash on the same first corner as Remse and Biggs. The red flags were out again, but with only a few minutes left in the session it was decided that was the end of the session. Both Steinhausen and Kolsch were taken to the medical centre. Steinhausen was released after a short time but Kolsch was taken to hospital with a broken ankle and suspected broken wrist. Their machine was a total wreck when returned to pit lane.

With a much depleted field now, qualifying two got under way. With no teams improving on their qualifying one times. All teams were getting tyres bedded in and checking all was okay for the 10 lap race which will start at 16.30 local time, with Reeves and Cluze on pole, next to them will be Streuer and Koerts, with Makkula and Asumani third. Uwe Gurck and Manfred Wechselberger on their “Polizei Sport Verein Wels” LCR, BMW will head the second row, with Jakob Rutz and Thomas Hofer next to them with their “Sidecar Racing Team Rutz” LCR, Yamaha.

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Reeves and Cluze, cruse to victory
Race 1

Drama even before the lights went out for Philippe Gallerne and Julien Chesneau on their “Team Gallerne” RCN, Suzuki, they pulled off track with fuel pump failure.

As the lights went out it was Tim Reeves and Gregory Cluze on their “The Relocator” LCR, Kawasaki, who got the whole shot into the first corner, followed by Bennie Streuer and Goert Koerts on their “Team Streuer” LCR, Suzuki, right behind Streuer and Koerts was Uwe Gurck and Manfred Wechselberger on their “Polizei Sport Verein Wels” LCR, BMW. Third on the line Pettri Makkula and Harri Asumanie had a poor start on their “Team Makkula” LCR, BMW they were overhauled into the first corner by Jacob Rutz and Thomas Hofer on their “Sidecar Racing Team Rutz” LCR, Yamaha. Mike Roscher and Anna Burkard on their “Roscher Hanni Racing” LCR, BMW slotted into sixth place.


All through the race Reeves and Cluze were never threatened for their race lead, they were pulling out a healthy lead throughout the race; they were to take the chequered flag with a healthy 12 second lead over second place team Streuer and Koerts who finished 7 seconds in front of third place team Makkula and Asumanie. This would be the first time on the podium for these two teams who were very happy with their performance during the race.

Makkula however had to fight for his podium, Gurck and Wechselberger were looking for their first podium when with two laps to go Makkula was catching fast and managed to pass the slowing Gurck for third. Gurck and Wechselberger had a problem with their front wheel, they were lucky to finish in fourth place. Fifth place went to Rutz and Hofer who had a trouble free race. Sixth place went to Roscher and Burkard who were happy for good points in the championship.

Tomorrow there will be an 18 lap Gold Race starting at 12.45 local time. The teams will be hoping that the weather will be as good as it was today.

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Great Weekend for Reeves and Cluze
Gold Race

Warm up for the World Sidecar crews this morning was abandoned due to high winds funnelling through the mountains all round the “Automotdrom Grobnik” circuit. With only one and a half hours before the “Gold Race” was due to start, it was decided that two sidecar teams would take to the track to make a decision whether it was safe to race or not. This decision was up to Bennie Streuer and Goert Koerts, and the French team of Philippe Gallerne and Julien Chesneau. The two teams circulated for two laps and they made the decision that it was safe to race. The race however would be fourteen laps instead of the planned eighteen.

As the lights went out, once again it was Tim Reeves and Gregory Cluze on their “The Relocator” LCR, Kawasaki who took the advantage into the first corner, they were followed by Uwe Gurck and Manfred Wechselberger on their “Polizei Sport Verein Wels” LCR, BMW, right on their tail was Bennie Streuer and Goert Koerts on their “Team Streuer” LCR, Suzuki, by the end of lap one Reeves and Cluze had stamped their authority on the race and had a healthy lead over second place, who now was Streuer and Koerts, they managed to get passed Gurck and Wechselberger by the end of the lap.

Streuer and Koerts gave chase to Reeves and Cluze and managed to get a healthy gap between themselves and third place. This was to stay all through the race, and another second place looked likely, until on the last lap the drive sprocket on their machine sheared off leaving them stranded at the side of the track and the DNF result for them was another blow to their championship.


A great battle all through the race between Gurck and Wechselberger and Finish team Petri Makkula and Harri Asumanie on their “Team Makkula” LCR, BMW, they were to swap places throughout the race. Makkula and Asumanie again did not get the best of starts, but once they had caught Gurck and Wechselberger the battle was on, for the last spot on the podium, the two teams delighted the crowd lap after lap with their battle.

With Streuer out of the race the battle was for second and third places now, and it was Makkula and Asumanie who crossed the line to take second just in front of Gurck and Wechselberger, both teams were delighted with the race and congratulated each and other on a great battle. This was Gurck’s first podium at this level and it takes him and Wechselberger to second in the championship.

Mike Roscher and Anna Burkard on their “Roscher Hanni Racing” LCR, BMW had a great race result, they were sitting behind Jakob Rutz and Thomas Hofer on their “Sidecar Racing Team Rutz” LCR, Yamaha, till lap ten when Rutz and Hofer seemed to slow slightly, giving Roscher and Burkard the opportunity to get close and challenge for fourth place in the race. They fought with Rutz and Hofer and managed to get passed for the fourth place, with Rutz and Hofer taking the chequered flag for fifth place. Philippe Gallerne and Julien Chesneau on their “Team Gallern” RCN, Suzuki managed to get their problem sorted which put them out of the race yesterday, and they were to take the chequered flag for sixth place.

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