FIM Sidecar World Championship round two April 26/27 Estoril

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Warm up

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Sprint race

New laptop record Schlosser/Schmidt

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Sprint

Podium

Photo Mark Walters

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Sprint report from Mark Walters

FIM Sidecar World Championship.

Estoril,

Race one.

Brilliant sunshine and the wind has dropped in Estoril today.

Rupert Archer and Ondrej Sedlacek would not start the race due to a broken engine mounting.

Tim Reeves and Mark Wilkes started from the back of the grid, they were held in pit lane as the sidecar teams started their warm up lap..

As the lights went out it was Harry Payne and Kevin Rousseau who got the start from Markus Schlosser and Luca Schmidt. Sam and Tom Christie were in third. Pekka Paivarinta and Adam Christie were just in front of Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clement. Paul Leglise and Marjorie Cescutti were next with Patrick Werkstetter and Valentin Pirat just behind, Sam and Jack Laidlow slotted into eighth with Markus Venus and Thomas Hofer next, Lennard Gottlich and Lucas Krieg were next, Tim Reeves and Mark Wilkes had made a place up by the first corner, they passed kevin Cable and Charlie Richardson.

Lap two saw Ellis and Clement move up to fourth, passing Paivarinta and Christie. Reeves and Wilkes had made up good time on lap one and was in seventh. Gottlich and Krieg were having electrical problems and would DNF this lap.

Payne and Rousseau were out in the front but Schlosser and Schmidt were gaining. A good battle for the next placings, but the Christie brothers had a good grip on the third place, leaving Ellis and Clement to battle fending off Paivarinta and Christie. Reeves and Wilkes had fought their way up to sixth.

Lap eight saw Schlosser and Schmidt take the lead from Payne and Rousseau to the delight of their team. It went all the way to the flag with Schlosser/Schmidt taking the win by only 0.043. They also had the fastest lap a time of 1,45.481.

The Christie Brothers took a good third with Ellis and Clement just in front of Paivarinta and Christie. Reeves and Wilkes took sixth, with Werkstetter and Pirat a great seventh. Leglise and Cescutti took eighth with the Laidlow brothers ninth. Venus and hofer took tenth with Cable and Richardson eleventh.

Race two will start at 16.00 local time.

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Gold race

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Race two report from Mark Walters

FIM Sidecar World Championship,

Estoril,

Race two.

“Payne and Rousseau triumphant”

The sun was shining brightly for the start of the 17 lap race in Estoril.

The lights went out and Harry Payne and Kevin Rousseau got the whole shot once again, Sam and Tom Christie got the better of Markus Schlosser and Luca Schmidt, Tim Reeves and Mark Wilkes slotted into fourth, but this was short lived as they got up to second and gave chase to Payne and Rousseau. Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clement slotted into fifth just in front of Pekka Paivarinta and Adam Christie. Paul Leglise and Marjorie Cescutti got a good start in seventh just in front of Sam and Jack Laidlow, Patrick Werkstetter and Valentin Pirat slotted into ninth with Rupert Archer and Ondrej Sedlacek just in front of Lennard Gottlich and Lucas Krieg. Markus Venus and Thomas Hofer were next up with Kevin Cable and Charlie Richardson at the back.

Tim Reeves and Mark Wilkes chased down Payne and Rousseau and managed to take the lead, but disaster was to hit them on lap three, they pulled out for a DNF with fuel problems.

Leglise and Cescutti pulled off on lap five with a broken chain.

After Reeves and Wilkes retired this let The Christie brothers through to take second, but Schlosser and Schmidt were on the move, they were hunting the Christie brothers down. Not before having a dingdong battle with Ellis and Clement who were also in battle with Paivarinta and Christie.

Werkstetter and Pirat were well placed and were chasing the Laidlow brothers, this turned out to be a good battle till the end of the race.

Schlosser and Schmidt got passed Ellis/Clement, Paivarinta/Christie, and gave chase to Payne and Rousseau, they caught the leaders and made the pass and straight away started to make a gap.

Lap 10, the Christie brothers were third with Paivarinta/Christie fourth and Ellis/Clement fifth, this was a good battle too but disaster struck Ellis/Clement, they spun off track and could not get back to rejoin, a DNF for them. This let Werkstetter/Pirat through for fifth but they were under pressure from the Laidlow brothers who eventually passed to take the fifth place, but Werkstetter/Pirat were not letting them get away.

Archer and Sedlacek were out on their own in seventh place but another disaster for them on lap fifteen, they had a rear upright break, giving them a DNF. This left Gottlich/Krieg take over the seventh place, with Venus/Hofer on their own in eighth and Cable/Richardson ninth.

On the last lap Schlosser/Schmidt were way out in front looking for a good win when they spun on track letting Payne and Rousseau through to take the race win to the delight of the team, also this let the Christie brothers through for a great second place and Paivarinta and Christie taking third, Schlosser and Schmidt did manage to rejoin and crossed the line in fourth place.

Werkstetter and Pirat got the better of the Laidlow brothers and took a great fifth place, the Laidlow’s sixth.

A good seventh for Gottlich and Krieg made up for the disastrous first race.

Venus and Hofer took eighth, a good result for them.

Cable and Richardson took good points for ninth.

There is a fair break till the next round in Hungary, that will be in June.