Since becoming official promoters in 2020, the aim of the RKB-F1 Motorsport and Santander Salt organisations has been to work closely with the FIM and circuit organisers to raise the profile and integrity of the FIM Sidecar World Championship.
From the FIM (thought I should include both releases, this and RKB)
After several attempts to reorganise the 2020 calendar and careful discussions regarding the difficulties caused by the Coronavirus disease (#COVID19) pandemic at the organisational level, the FIM, the promoter RKB-F1/Santander Salt Ltd, the national federations of Croatia, Hungary, Germany, Great Britain, Portugal and the local organisers have been forced to cancel the 2020 FIM Sidecar World Championship.
We’ve made the decision to remove our entry from the World Championship and continue with the remainder of the British Championship.
Not an easy decision to make but it had to be made. Next weekend we go to Snetterton for Round 2 with BSB, another circuit we’ve not raced at for a few years, looking forward to getting stuck in!
Given the ongoing circumstances and restrictions associated with the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the FIM and RKB-F1/Santander Salt Ltd organisational team have had to make the following changes to the 2020 calendar.
Cancellation of the rounds at Le Mans, France (29-30 August) and Lausitzring, Germany (17-18 October). Rescheduling of the round at Brands Hatch, Great Britain on 16-18 October.
Revised dates are as follows: DATE VENUE COUNTRY FMN 04-06 September Rijeka Croatia HMS 26-27 September Pannoniaring Hungary MAMS 02-04 October Oschersleben Germany DMSB 16-18 October Brands Hatch Great Britain ACU 23-25 October Estoril Portugal FMP
With the ongoing impact internationally and continued travel restrictions due to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the FIM and RKB-F1/Santander Salt Ltd organisational team have had to make the following changes to the 2020 calendar.
The ongoing and fast-moving situation with COVID-19 and the way it is impacting on global sport has us all on our toes.
The RKB-F1/Santander Salt organisational team, along with the FIM, is working frantically behind the scenes to try and deliver the promised new-look FIM World Championship.
Whilst
we are all in this suspended state, with not very much happening on
the surface, it does not mean the feet are not paddling away below.
We at RKB-F1 Motorsport
are hard at it planning what hopefully will turn out to be the season
we all want.
Given
we now have 2 Championships running in parallel – The UK and World,
we are looking to expand the team on the ground on race weekends,
particularly in the area of PR, Social Media and TV.
Ideally
we see the person filling this part-time role as a graduate, or a
young person wishing to gain experience in the world of marketing and
PR with a view to progressing in the field of sport journalism,
television or similar.
We
currently have TV footage edited and produced for our own website and
YouTube channel, whilst the World Championship has a bespoke
highlights package produced by the FIM. We are also considering
taking interviews and video snapshots at both series, to edit into
those shows.
This
is an opportunity for a keen graduate or young person to be exposed
to the world of motor sport media, and to learn from our already
experienced personnel some of the tricks of the trade. More than
anything initially, it needs to be considered as work experience,
with a view to moving ahead as things develop.
If
you feel this is something you would like to become involved in, and
are interested in exploring this further, please make contact in the
first instance with karen@bgsp.co.uk
by sending a current CV along with a covering letter.
Entries now Live on the FIM website , thanks Mike.
After another stunning season of competition for the FIM Superside last year we are now ready to kick off 2020.
As previously announced, the first big news of the starting season is Santander Salt Ltd & RKB Motorsport, Roger Body’s companies are joining FIM’ s force to promote and develop the FIM Sidecar World Championship.
Despite some recent changes due to Coronavirus, and subject to further developments, the 2020 FIM Sidecar Word Championship Calendar with some exciting changes and additions is now confirmed.
PLEASE NOTE – MIKE’S EMAIL ADDRESS HAS BEEN UPDATED.
RKB-F1 Motorsport in association with Santander Salt Ltd. has reached an agreement with the FIM (the International governing body of motorcycle sport) whereby they have arrived at an eight round series across seven different countries for the 2020 FIM World Sidecar Championship.
This
is the result of extensive discussions between new series promoter
Roger Body, the FIM, the circuit organisers, and a large degree of
cooperation and advice from German former ace driver Ralf Bohnhorst.
“Bohni”
as he is affectionately known, has been very involved organising the
series in recent years, building a sound platform from which to move
forward.
Multiple champions, Ben and Tom Birchall will be taking some time away from racing in the “FIM World Championship”. At the last round of 2019 in “Estoril” Portugal, “Birchall Racing” sold their former championship-winning “LCR” Yamaha to Dutch sidecar driver Kees Endeveld. This left some people wondering would the Birchall Brothers, Ben and Tom start the 2020 season with a new “LCR” chassis, powered with Yamaha engines.
Unfortunately, this is not to be. It was decided by the team that it was time to take a break from racing on the world scene to spend more time with their young families, continue to develop their LCR chassis and focus their racing efforts closer to home on the smaller F2 machine.
Driver Ben said, “It was a very hard decision to make, but if I was totally honest, I was not really enjoying my racing at the world level. A lot of things have happened over the last couple of years. By spending more time in the UK, we can focus on racing the F2 outfit as well as having longer to enjoy family life and develop the LCR bikes even more. There’s definitely more development that we can do to the F2 machine, but as for the F1 chassis, we would like to develop and try to improve that too, but it will be hard, as it’s nearly perfect as it is.”
Ben and Tom have been racing together every year since 2004.
But remember people, this is not retirement; this is taking some time out racing the F1 Chassis. Let’s hope the Birchall Brothers, Ben and Tom, will be back in the world championship paddock very soon.