With the sun beating down on the sidecar teams for the final race of the 2014 FIM Sidecar World Championship, it was going to be a hard fought race for the top teams, and the spectators were in for a treat.

As the lights went out it was Ben and Tom Birchall on their “Mitchells of Mansfield” LCR, Suzuki who got the whole shot into the first corner with Tim Reeves and Gregory Cluze right on their tail with their “The Relocator” LCR, Kawasaki. As the pack arrived at the first chicane it was Reeves and Cluze who managed to slip up the inside of the Birchall Brothers for first place, this left the Birchalls having to fend off Pekka Paivarinta and Timo Karttiala on their “44 Racing” LCR, BMW, slotting into fourth was Sebastien Delannoy and Kevin Rousseau on their “Team Sand-Seb72” LCR, Suzuki, behind Delannoy and Rousseau was Uwe Gurck and Manfred Wechselberger with their “Polizeisportverein Wels Motorsport” LCR, BMW and right beside them was Bennie Streuer and Geert Koerts with their “Team Streuer” LCR, Suzuki.

Streuer and Koerts were to go straight on at the chicane however, they did manage to keep out of the kitty litter and were to rejoin the race, but in last position. This let Philippe Le Bail and Sebastien Lavorel take up sixth place on their “Team Auto Moto Terca” LCR, Suzuki, and right with them was Mike Roscher and Anna Burkard with their “Roscher Hanni Racing” LCR, BMW.

The battle at the front was hot between Reeves/Cluze and the Birchall Brothers, they were swapping places throughout the early laps, with Paivarinta/Karttiala having a great battle with Delannoy/Rousseau. Lap three was a big decider in the race when the two leading teams made contact. This let Paivarinta/Karttiala take second place with the Birchall Brothers back to third. This let Reeves/Cluze get a small gap in the lead but all was not good for Reeves/Cluze, on lap nine the team had to retire from the race, the reason being, the exhaust on their machine had been bent, causing driver Reeves being unable to steer the machine due to the immense heat being directed onto his hand.

The team were very disappointed not to finish the race. Reeves said after “I was really enjoying the race with Ben and Tom, we were swapping places and it was a good fight, but it was not to be, we had to retire from the race” also Cluze said “It would have been great to finish the season with a good result here at my home GP, but we still have the Championship” The Birchall Brothers managed to get passed Paivarinta/Karttiala for the race lead.

This was not to change and the Birchall Brothers Ben and Tom were to have a trouble free race after this and they went on to take the chequered flag for the race win and they had the fastest lap of the race too, a time of 1:41.893. Paivarinta/Karttiala were to have a great battle with Delannoy/Rousseau for the second and third places on the podium, they were to swap places a number of times during the final stages of the race. It was Paivarinta and Karttiala who got the better of Delannoy and Rousseau to take the flag for second place with a very happy Delannoy and Rousseau taking third.

Taking the flag for fourth place would be Le Bail/Lavorel, they managed to get a good gap between themselves and a four bike battle for the fifth place. They were really happy with this result, in front of their home crowd. Streuer and Koerts fought hard and managed to fight their way back into a four bike battle for a fifth place, they were to at one point get up to sixth place, but the team would take the chequered flag for ninth place giving them a total points tally for the season of 105 securing them fourth in the championship.

Taking fifth place in the race was Roscher and Burkard they were really pleased with the result which would secure them with fifth place in the championship with a points total of 95, they had a great battle all through the race with Jakob Rutz and Thomas Hofer on their “Sidecar Racing Team Rutz” LCR, Yamaha also with the French pairing of Manuel Moreau and Stephane Gadet on their “MG Racing Side” LCR, Suzuki. These three teams were to swap places all throughout the latter stages of the race. It was Rutz/Hofer who were to get the better of Moreau/Gadet though and they would take the chequered flag for sixth place with Moreau/Gadet seventh.

Crossing the line for eighth place was Uwe Gurck and Manfred Wechselberger, not really the result the team wanted but it was enough to give them a points total for third in the championship of 112. Although eighth in the race, the team were so happy with third overall in the championship.

The 2014 FIM Sidecar Championship comes to an end with it up and downs. It will be a long winter for the teams to prepare for the 2015 season.



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