Two in a row for Payne and Rousseau

From Mark Walters at FIM World Championship

The sun was out for the last race of the day in Assen, 16 hard laps for the FIM World Sidecar Teams.

The lights went out and like the race earlier in the day it was Harry Payne and Kevin Rousseau who got the lead from Ted and Vincent Peugeot, Pekka Paivarinta and Adam Christie third. Sam and Tom Christie were next up with Lewis Blackstock and Oscar Lawrence fifth.

Three abreast next, on the inside was Bennie Streuer and Manon Vissenberg, Patrick Werkstetter and ValentinPirat and Tim Reeves and Luca Schmidt on the outside. Rob Biggs and Ferry Segers were next with Thomas Eder and Kevin Kolsch, with the Turner brothers Corey and Danyon next up. Markus Schlosser and Lucas Kreig were just in front of Markus Venus and Thomas Hofer with Manuel Moreau and Alice Roba next, Paul Kirby and Ema Salmon were just in front of Lewis Nicol and Lex Deemter.

Kevin Cable and Jann Druel with Ulric Brillauld and Cora Marsal next. Raymond Leijdekkers and Oceane Bataille were just in front of Wiggert Kranenburg and Loris Charteau, Claude Vinet and Leane Marsel were next with Michael Brillauld and Fabrice Deturche following, at the rear was Rogier Weekers and Remco Moes.

Lap one saw Moreau and Roba out with oil pressure and clutch problems, lap six Brillault and Marsal pulled out, on lap 10 Reeves and Schmidt pulled in with gearbox problems which plagued them from the start of the race, and on lap 14 Nicol and Deemter pulled in with brake problems.

Out in the front Payne and Rousseau were on their own and now the Christie brothers Sam and Tom were in second after getting past the Peugeots, Paivarinta and Christie and Blackstock and Lawrence who were all now in a right battle together. The Peugeots were a bit wide at the last chicane and ran on the blue which gave them a long lap penalty as it was deemed that they gained time, they had a lot of work to do to catch up again.

Schlosser and Kreig had worked hard and made their way up to sixth place in front of another great battle between Streuer and Vissenberg and Werkstetter and Pirat who were swapping places on most laps.

Eder and Kolsch were going well but had the Turner brothers bearing down on them and this was turning into a fair battle too.

The battle for the last podium place was immense, Paivarinta/Christie and Blackstock/Lawrence were passing each and other multiple times on each lap in the closing stages of the race, but this was letting the Peugeot’s catch. These three teams were well enough ahead of Schlosser/Kreig, there was no problem of them losing out to them.

Werkstetter/Pirat and Streuer/Vissenberg were still going at it hammer and tongs for placings and too Eder/Kolsch were fighting hard to keep the Turner brothers behind them.

Out at the front Payne and Rousseau were in control and they were cruising to another race win, they were ticking off the laps till the chequred flag came out, they also had the fastest lap of the race a time of 1:42.739. Second place went to the Christie brothers Sam and Tom; they were out all on their own too. These two teams had no idea what was going on behind for the last podium spot.

The Battle was certainly keeping the spectators entertained in the grandstand watching the big screen. Paivarinta and Christie had the third place then losing it to Blackstock and Lawrence, then getting it back again, this went on for the last quarter of the race and all the time the Peugeot’s were catching after their long lap penalty. Coming into the last chicane on the last lap Blackstock and Lawrence had the podium spot but Paivarinta and Christie went for it one last time, they got passed and went over the line just in front of Blackstock and Lawrence, and the Peugeot’s had caught right up with them going over the line. However, Paivarinta and Christie had gone onto the green paint on their overtake manoeuvre on Blackstock and Lawrence, giving them a penalty whitch was to drop a place, this put them back to fourth and Blackstock/Lawrence the final podium place, with the Peugeots fifth.

Schlosser and Kreig took sixth place, ending a hard weekend for them.

Werkstetter and Pirat got the better of Streuer and Vissenberg taking seventh, Streuer/Vissenberg eighth. A good weekend for both teams.

The Turner brothers fought hard and took ninth place after getting passed Eder and Kolsch rounding off the top ten.

Rob Biggs and Ferry Segers had a lonely race out on their own but a good eleventh place for them followed by Venus and Hofer twelfth. Kirby and Salmon also out on their own took thirteenth, with Cable and Druel fourteenth.

The next five teams were all one lap down on the leaders at the end of the race. Kranenburg/Charteaux, Vinet/Marsal, Leijdekkers/Bataille, Brillault/Deturche, Weekers/Moes, they finished 15th through to 19th respectfully.

The next and final two races of the championship will be in two weeks’ time at Oschersleben, Germany.