With the weather a little cooler but still bright sunshine, it was going to be a hard 15 lap race. As the lights went out it was Sebastien Delannoy and Kevin Rousseau on their “Team Sand Seb 72” LCR, Suzuki who got the hole shot into the first corner.  

Pekka Paivarinta and Kirsi Kainulainen on their “44-Racing” LCR, BMW were right on their tail, and right with them was Tim Reeves and Gregory Cluze on their “Remse Racing Team” LCR, Yamaha, they worked well into the night and changed the engine on their machine, after it expired in the Sprint race yesterday. Bennie Streuer and Geert Koerts on their “Team Streuer” LCR, Suzuki, were with Reeves and Cluze. Alongside Streuer and Koerts was Markus Schlosser and Thomas Hofer on their “Sidecar racing Team Schlosser” LCR, Suzuki, with John Holden and Stuart Ramsay with their “Silicone/Barnes Racing” LCR, Suzuki right behind Schlosser and Hofer.

Reeves and Cluze followed by Paivarinta and Kainulainen managed to get passed Delannoy and Rousseau by lap two.  And it was looking like Paivarinta/Kainulainen would get the better of Reeves/Cluze on a few occasions at the back part of the circuit, but Reeves/Cluze had the better of the “Flying Finns”.  The two teams were able to make a small gap on Delannoy/Rousseau, but any mistake by the two leaders and they would pick up the pieces.  Markus Schlosser and Thomas Hofer were to have a lonely race but it would keep them out of trouble if anything was to happen up front.

The battle for fourth, fifth and sixth place was hot with Holden and Ramsey, Streuer and Koerts, and Mike Roscher and Anna Burkard on their “Roscher-Burkard Penz 13 Racing” LCR, BMW, decided they would join in too.  This battle would continue and there would be another hard charging machine joining in too.  Ben and Tom Birchall on their “Birchall Racing” LCR, Honda, were really on the charge, they were the first of the FIM Sidecar F2 World Trophy teams.  Holden/Ramsay were at the front of this battle and it was clear he was having some tyre issues with the large slides coming out of some corners.  The Birchall Brothers overhauled Roscher/Burkard and gave chase to Streuer/Koerts, the two teams were side by side for a good few laps one trying to get the better of the other.

At the front there was no change with Reeves/Cluze leading the way to Paivarinta/Kainulainen with Delannoy/Rousseau in third.  It was clear Reeves/Cluze wanted this win badly, after their poor results in Croatia and the DNF in the Sprint Race yesterday. On lap ten of the fifteen lap race the red flags were to come out and the race was stopped.  Holden and Ramsay had left the track on the last corner before the start finish straight.  Passenger Ramsay was unhurt, but driver Holden was taken to the medical centre complaining of a shoulder injury, but both were in good spirits.

The race was over and the win went to Tim Reeves and Gregory Cluze, Reeves said 

“It was going to be a hard race but we got there in the end, not the way we wanted with John having his crash, but we got the thumbs up from him as we went past, so I hope all is good with him.  It’s going to be hard for us in the next rounds, as we are well back on points, but we will battle on”

Pekka Paivarinta and Kirsi Kainulainen took second place and were really happy with this.  “The team has done really well the last two weeks, and I am so happy for Kirsi with her win yesterday” said Pekka after.

Delannoy and Rousseau took third and were happy with this, they will battle on to the next round in Assen Holland in the beginning of August.

Fourth place went to Markus Schlosser and Thomas Hofer.  Schlosser said after, 

“It’s not what we wanted, but after yesterdays DNF, fourth place is good, good points for us in the championship” 

Fifth place overall in the race, and another first place in the FIM Sidecar F2 World Trophy went to Ben and Tom Birchall.  Ben said after, “We had some battle with Streuer and Koerts for this place, we are really happy with the result”,

Streuer and Koerts took sixth overall but fifth in the FIM World Sidecar Championship.  Streuer said, 

“Our back tyre was no good, what a battle we had with the Birchall Brothers, unfortunately they got the better of us, but we will battle on in the next round which is our home track of Assen, Holland”.

A very pleased Mike Roscher and Anna Burkard would take seventh overall but sixth place in the Sidecar World Championship.  Another good result for the team. Eighth place went to Michael Grabmuller and Sophia Kirchhofer on their “Polizeisportverein Wels Delta racing Team” LCR, Yamaha.  This would be second place in the F2 Trophy class.  The team were really happy with this.

Jakob Rutz and Marcel Fries would take ninth place on their “Sidecar-Racing-Team Rutz” LCR, Yamaha.  “A better day for us, we DNF yesterday when we spun of track after Reeves blew up, I hope the next round is better for us” said driver Rutz. 

Gunther Bachmaier and Manfred Wechselberger would take eleventh place overall, but third in the F2 Trophy class, on their “MSV-Schwanenstadt/PSV-Wels” LCR, Suzuki.  The team are really happy with how the last two rounds have gone for them.

The next round for both Championships will be in Assen, Holland at the beginning of August.



Mark Walters