FIM World Sidecar Championship round two Assen

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Qualifying report from Mark Walters

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Ellis and Clement, fastest.

With bright sunshine, but very windy, qualifying was going to be a tight schedule for the sidecar teams as there was not a lot of time between Q1 and Q2.

Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clement set off in Q1 and were fast from word go. They had no problems and set a very impressive time of 1:43.255. Between the two qualifiers, they were to return to their pit garage and make some small adjustments. These adjustments did not improve their Q1 time, but the team were happy with how the day went. The time they set was not to be beaten, so they set the fastest time of the day.

The second fastest time went to Tim Reeves and Kevin Rousseau. They did not have a good Q1. Driver Reeves could not get the handling of the bike to his liking. It was all go in their pit garage in the short space of time they had. After Q2, Reeves and Rousseau were happy, but it was a lot of work is such a short space of time, it paid off though; they set a time of 1:43.295.

Markus Schlosser and Marcel Fries set the third fastest time of the day, a 1:43.596. They had no problems with their machine, but were surprised that they had not set a faster time. All in all though the team were reasonably happy with how the day went.

The fourth fastest time of the day went to a happy Bennie Streuer and Kevin Kolsch. They seem to have sorted the problem that blighted them all weekend in Le Mans. Streuer and Kolsch set their time in Q1, it was 1:44.033.

Stephen Kershaw and Ryan Charlwood were another team who worked hard between Q1 and Q2, but they did all their work in pit lane, setup and gearing was their big job, getting tyres scrubbed in for the races too. Their time was a 1:44.343. They are happy with this and are up with the top group.

Harry Payne and Mark Wilkes had a lot to do today, their machine was rebuilt after their big crash in Le Mans, they had to make adjustment all round, the team worked hard and it payed off, they set the sixth fastest time of the day a 1:44.593. However at the end of Q2 they put new tyres on to scrub in for race 1 tomorrow, driver Harry found the machine handled totally different, not to his liking. The team will have a thought about this overnight.

Lukas Wyssen and Thomas Hofer set the seventh fastest time of 1:45.600. The team were very happy with this, they could do these times consistently throughout qualifying, driver Wyssen was very happy with this. The team are really looking forward to a good race tomorrow.

Ted and Vincent Peugeot were not a happy team after qualifying. Old tyres in Q1 let them down then in Q2 they could not get their machine to handle like they wanted, they set a time of 1:46.075

Another French team who had a fraught time in qualifying was Paul Leglise and Melanie Farnier. First time here for passenger Farnier with Leglise, and also a problem with their machine losing power. Their time of 1:48.286 was set in Q1; they did not have a Q2 time. They will be working into the night to rectify their problem.

Cedric and Arnaud Pierard had gear change problems in free practice in the morning. They worked to rectify this and seemed to have little problems in Q1 and Q2, they set their best time of 1:49.465 in Q2.

Janez Remse and Manfred Wechselberger had a bad day, it started with a fairing bracket breaking in free practice, the team had to re attach the bracket and make sure it was strong enough before heading out for qualifying. They managed to do this but qualifying was a tough time for them Q1 was okay but the team felt their machine was slow. They stayed in pit lane between Q1 and Q2 checked all over their machine and all seemed good. Q2 saw the team being held up a few times by teams with problems, but none the less they set a time of 1:49.960. They hope that the race tomorrow will be a good one.

Kevin Cable and Charlie Richardson set a time of 1:50.500, they had no machine problems and driver Cable is looking forward to the race tomorrow, and they will be in battle with four other teams going by the times today.

Claud Vinet and Sebastien Arifon had a testing day, new passenger for Vinet and the first time here. After Q2 the team felt a lot happier and hope the race will be good tomorrow, they set a time of 1:51.589.

Philippe Gallerne and Jean-Philipe Bouchard set a time of 1:56.759. They did the best with what tyres they had and are looking forward to the race tomorrow.

The first 18 lap race will start at 17:00 local time.

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Race one

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Race one podium captures from Mark Walters

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Race one report from Mark Walters

#FIMSidecar #FIM

“Schlosser and Fries charge home”

Once again the sun shone, and once again it was windy in Assen for the first 18 lap race, race three of the 2022 championship.

The lights went out and it was Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clement who took control at the front from Tim Reeves and Kevin Rousseau with Bennie Streuer and Kevin Kolsch third. Markus Schlosser and Marcel Fries were in fourth. Stephen Kershaw and Ryan Charlwood had made a reasonable start but had some work to do as Harry Payne and Mark Wilkes were just in front with Lukas Wyssen and Thomas Hofer breathing down their necks. Ted and Vincent Peugeot were right on their tail too. Kevin Cable and Charlie Richardson were next up with Cleude Vinet and Sebastien Arifon right with them. Cedric and Arnaud Pierard were next with Philippe Gallerne and Jean-Philipe Bouchard next.

Paul Leglise and Melanie Farnier and Janez Remse with Manfred Wechselberger did not start the race due to electrical problems.

The first few laps of the race saw Ellis/Clement fight off passing moves from Reeves/Rousseau, but Reeves/Rousseau did get by with Ellis/Clement re taking the lead, it was a great scrap between these two teams.

Bennie Streuer and Kevin Kolsch were fighting hard to get up with the leading pair but had to defend their third spot from Schlosser/Fries.

Stephen Kershaw and Ryan Charlwood were in battle with Payne/Wilkes a small distance back from Schlosser/ Fries.

Ted and Vincent Peugeot were now locked in battle with Wyssen/Hofer, this was to be a race long battle.

Kevin Cable and Charlie Richardson were fending off Vinet and Arifon and had control of this battle.

Cedric and Arnaud were on their own as was Gallerne and Bouchard.

By half distance, Reeves and Rousseau were still out in front from Ellis and Clement, but Schlosser and Fries were on the move they had passed Streuer and Kolsch for third spot and were charging down on the leading pair. Kershaw and Charlwood had by now passed Payne and Wilkes and were putting pressure on Streuer and Kolsch for fourth spot.

Lap eleven saw Schlosser and Fries take second spot from Ellis and Clement, they gave chase to Reeves and Rousseau who were still out in front, but Ellis and Clement stuck to the tail of Schlosser/Fries which was to pull them up to Reeves and Rousseau. This was a good battle with the top three teams.

Getting to the closing stages of the race, Schlosser and Fries managed to get passed Reeves and Rousseau for the lead and took with them Ellis and Clement putting Reeves and Rousseau down to third.

Kershaw and Charlwood were still holding fourth spot in front of Streuer and Kolsch fifth. Payne and Wilkes were still sitting in sixth with the race long battle between Peugeot/Peugeot and Wyssen/Hofer seventh and eighth. It was Wyssen and Hofer who were to make a pass on Peugeot/Peugeot and reverse the standing for them, Wyssen/Hofer were up to seventh now.

On lap seven of the race Vinet and Arifon who had been in battle with Cable/Richardson were to DNF with a mechanical problem. Cable and Richardson had some breathing space now between them and Pierard/Pierard. But lap twelve saw Pierard/Pierard close the gap and they eventually made the pass.

By the end of the race all the teams were basically out of their battles and on their own.

Schlosser and Fries were to take the chequred flag for the race win only 0.622 ahead of Ellis and Clement second. Ellis and Clement did have the fastest lap of the race a time of 1:43.617

Reeves and Rousseau took third spot. After the race it turned out that driver Reeves was having problems with his neck, he has had this problem for a couple of days now, he will rest and hope tomorrow will be better for him.

Fourth spot went to a delighted Kershaw and Charlwood, who had broken away from the perusing teams in the final stages of the race.

Bennie Streuer and Kevin Kolsch took fifth place, it turned out that there was contact between them and another team in the early stages of the race which was the reason for them falling back. But they were happy enough with the result.

Harry Payne and Mark Wilkes took sixth place, they and the team were delighted with this result, after the nightmare time they had only one week ago in Le Mans.

Wyssen and Hofer took seventh place and were also delighted with this result.

Ted and Vincent Peugeot took eighth place, the team were happy with this but young driver Ted a bit down hearted, he thought he should have done better, but this is only his second time racing here. He will have another go tomorrow, but still a great result today.

A good ninth place for Cedric and Arnaud Pierard, they were happy with this result and look forward to another race tomorrow.

Tenth spot went to Kevin Cable and Charlie Richardson, the team wanted more, but were happy with how the race went for them.

Eleventh place went to Phillippe Gallerne and Jean- Philipe Bouchard.

The second 18 lap race will be at 16:15 local time tomorrow.

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Race two

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Race two podium captures from Mark Walters

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Race two report from Mark Walters

“Ellis and Clement storm home to victory”

The second 18 lap race in Assen for the FIM Sidecar World Championship got under way again in brilliant sunshine but again there was a stiff cold breeze.

Tim Reeves and Kevin Rousseau again got a cracker of a start from Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clement into the first complex of corners, Ellis and Clement crossed the line after the first lap in first place though, but this was short lived as Reeves and Rousseau retook the lead back.

Bennie Streure and Kevin Kolsch were fast up to the first corner they slotted into third place edging Stephen Kershaw and Ryan Charlwood to fourth with Markus Schlosser and Marcel Fries closely in fifth. Paul Leglise and Melanie Farnier, who had resolved the problem they had yesterday, were tucked in right behind Schlosser/Fries with Harry Payne and Mark Wilkes next to them on the outside. Ted and Vincent Peugeot were next up with Lukas Wyssen and Thomas Hofer behind them. Janez Remse and Manfred Wechselberger had sorted the electrical problem from yesterday, were next up with Kevin Cable and Charlie Richardson just behind them. Claude Vinet and Sebastien Arifon were right with Cable/Richardson, with Cedric and Arnaud Pierard next and Philippe Gallerne and Jean-Philipe Bouchard next.

Lap 5 saw Ellis and Clement take the lead away from Reeves and Rousseau with Kershaw and Charlwood up to third after staying safe in the lap one scramble. Streuer and Kolsch were in fourth spot with Schlosser and Fries trying hard to get by to chase down the leaders, with this close racing going on contact was going to happen, this slowed Schlosser/Fries but they did manage to get passed in the end and started their charge to the leading group.

Payne/Wilkes, Peugeot, Peugeot, Wyssen/Hofer were all in a close battle with Leglise/Farnier joining in the fun. This group started to make a gap on Remse/Wechselberger who were starting to in turn pull away from Cable/Richardson who by now had passed Vinet/Arifon with Pierard/Pierard next up and Gallerne/Bouchard at the back.

Once Ellis and Clement got out in front they started to edge away from Reeves and Rousseau who coming up to three quarter race distance started to get pressure from Schlosser and Fries.

The battle behind was getting interesting, Payne and Wilkes were up to fourth place now but close behind was Streuer and Kolsch with Kershaw and Charlwood having some gear and tyre problems back down to sixth, but this group had pulled away from Peugeot/Peugeot and Wyssen/Hofer who were now like yesterday in a battle of their own.

Remse/Wechselberger were on their own and it turned out a bit of a lonely race for them.

There was a great battle going on for the final placings between Cable/Richardson, Vinet/Arifon, Pierard/Pierard, this was to last the whole race with it looking like Cable/Richardson well in control, leaving Vinet/Arifon to fend off Pierard/Pierard.

By the end of the race, Schlosser and Fries were absolutely flying; lap thirteen saw the pair set the fastest lap of the race, a 1:42.820. But try as hard as they could they just did not have enough time to catch race leaders Ellis and Clement who were in a comfortable lead. They would take the race win to the delight of the spectators who applauded the pair cross the line. Schlosser and Fries took a well-deserved second place just over 6 seconds down on Ellis/ Clement.

Reeves and Rousseau fought hard but just could not stick with the leading pair. They took the third place to the delight of the team in pit lane.

What a result for Payne and Wilkes, fourth place, this time last week they had a bike so badly damaged it looked impossible for the team to contend this weekend, but all the blood sweat and tears paid off, the team are over the moon with the result.

Kershaw and Charlwood managed to regroup and get their race back on track after their slight problem earlier in the race. They finished in a good fifth place. The team are happy with this.

Streuer and Kolsch took sixth place, again the team were happy with this result.

The race long battle between Peugeot/Peugeot and Wyssen/Hofer went down to the last lap when Wyssen/Hofer nipped passed Peugeot/Peugeot for seventh place and Peugeot/Peugeot eighth, only 0.180 separated the two teams.

Leglise and Farnier took a lonely ninth place having been dropped by the two teams in front, but they were happy with this result after their problems yesterday.

Remse and Wechselberger took a good top ten result, again another team happy after their problems the day before.

The battle at the back with three teams went to the last corner. Cable and Richardson were in front but ran wide letting Vinet/Arifon pass to the gasps of the crowd, Vinet/ Arifon took eleventh place with Cable/Richardson twelfth, but only 0.731 behind. Pierard/Pierard took thirteenth, a great experience for the team. Gallerne and Bouchard rounded of the field in fourteenth place.

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Points update courtesy of John Newton