One hour before the sidecar teams were going to start their 16 lap race, the heavens opened and the track was awash with rainwater, the rain stopped though, and the track was drying. For the start of the race though certain parts of the track were still very wet. The race was reduced by one lap to fifteen, but there would be one extra warm up lap.

As the light went out it was the Birchall Brothers Ben and Tom who got the whole shot into the first complex of corners on their “Mitchells of Mansfield” LCR, Suzuki, right on their tail though was Bennie Streuer and Geert Koerts on their “Team Streuer” LCR, Suzuki. Pole sitter Tim Reeves and Gregory Cluze however had a terrible start on their “The Relocator” LCR, Kawasaki, by the first corner they were back in fifth place, but managed to get up to third by the “Strubben” corner. The leading teams were being cautious in the damp conditions, as were the rest of the teams. All teams had slick tyres fitted, but the track was drying fast and a good dry racing line was appearing so the slick tyres were the right decision for the race.

Once again Petri Makkula and Harri Asumaniemi were locked in a battle for the whole race on their “Team Makkula” LCR, BMW, with Uwe Gurck and Manfred Wechselberger on their “Polizei Sport Verein Wels” LCR, BMW, the battle however was to favour Gurck/ Wechselberger. On the last lap of the race the two teams touched and went spinning down the track, Gurck managed to keep his machine running and was to continue the race to take the chequered flag in fourth place. Makkula did not have such luck his machine stalled and he could not restart it, Makkula/ Asumaniemi were to suffer another DNF.

Another great battle was between Mike Roscher and Anna Burkard on their “Roscher Hanni Racing” LCR, BMW, and Robert Zimmerman and Sander Faber on their “Zimmerman-Faber” LCR, Suzuki, by the end of the race though it was Zimmerman/Faber who were to get the better of Roscher/ Burkard, and take the flag for fifth place with Roscher/Burkard finishing in sixth. Both teams were delighted with the race result. This result would put Roscher/Burkard fourth in the championship.

John Smits and Gunter Verbrugge on their “SidecarRacingTeam Smits” RCN, Yamaha, would cross the line in seventh place just in front of Hilbert Talens and Ilse De Haas on their “Talens Racing” LCR, Suzuki, another two teams delighted with their results.

The Estonian team of Eero Parm and Mairon Meius on their “Parm-Meius” LCR, Suzuki were overjoyed with their ninth place, they did have a heart stopping moment in the race though. The tenth place team of Jacob Rutz and Thomas Hofer suffered a slow puncture in the rear tyre of their “Sidecar Racing Team Rutz” LCR, Yamaha; they spun on track right in front of Parm/Meius. Rutz and Hofer were pleased that they managed to finish the race.

As the race continued the three leading teams were getting to grips with the damp track. Reeves and Cluze had worked their way up to second place passing Streuer/Koerts, and gave chase to the Birchall Brothers; Reeves/Cluze did catch the Birchalls and pass for the lead. After they passed Reeves /Cluze managed to put a good gap between them and the Birchall’s, who in turn were pulling out a good gap on Streuer/Koerts.


By the end of the race Streuer and Koerts were to cross the line in a safe third place to the delight of the Dutch fans who cheered the team all round the circuit on the slowing down lap. Both Streuer and Koerts were so pleased to stand on the podium at their home race “it was great race for us in front of all the Dutch fans” said Streuer The Birchall Brothers Ben and Tom were to put in a last fight for the flag, with two laps to go they were catching Reeves and Cluze, but it was too late, Tim Reeves and Gregory Cluze took the chequered flag for the win with the Birchall’s second over the line, the Birchall Brothers with their last gasp dash for the line were credited with the fastest lap of the race, a time of 1:42.559. Ben said after the race “It is so good to be back, I would like to thank all the people who have helped and supported me so much after my accident in the Isle of Man” Tom also was really pleased with the race and said “Ben drove a great race, I don’t know how he did it. I would like to thank all our sponsors who have helped so much.” This result takes the Birchall’s to second in the championship, but only 1 point ahead of Gurck and Wechselberger.

A delighted Tim Reeves and Gregory Cluze extend their lead in the championship with their win here today. Tim said after “I would like to say well done to Ben on his drive today, considering his injury he drove really well. This win is great for our team, and sponsors, we have a good lead in the championship, but there is a lot of racing still to be done, a big thank you to all who help us” Gregory also said “I can’t believe that we have such, a good lead in the championship, a big thank you to all who help us, but there is a long way to go in the championship, and we must try and continue our success, thank you all again”

The next round is in Germany with Moto GP at the Sachsenring in two weeks time.

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