European Sidecar Championship, Berghaupten: In the final, Brandhofer struck on ‘his line’

The final of the European Sidecar Championship in Berghaupten in the Black Forest got underway an hour late after rain had caused a delay. When the race got underway, it remained dry, but the track was quite soft, particularly at the start, which really put the riders through their paces in all classes. “The track was incredibly difficult to ride because it took a lot of energy, even though it offered several different lines,” said local hero Raphael San Millan.

In the absence of the defending champions Markus Venus and Markus Eibl, no single rider stood out, so things were already getting exciting in the final heats as riders battled for direct entry into the final. Raphael San Millan squandered his chance in the seventh heat: the Frenchman Remi Valladon was in the lead, which would have been enough for the rider from Baden, but his club-mate Manuel Meier snatched second place from San Millan, meaning he had to settle for the B final, whilst Valladon and Meier qualified for the A final.

Mitch Godden followed this up with his second victory in the eighth heat, which secured him first place after the heats and thus first choice of starting position for the final. It wasn’t a walk in the park for the Brit, as Markus Brandhofer was hot on his heels on the outside line, but the Bavarian was unable to overtake him.

San Millan was overtaken in the final

In the final, for which San Millan and Jerome Lespinasse had qualified from the B final, Godden chose the inside starting position – which had proved advantageous so far – whilst Brandhofer started on the very outside. As the starting tape shot up, it was initially San Millan who took the lead and emerged first from the starting bend. By the end of the first lap, Brandhofer had already attacked the leader on the outside; he took the lead on the second lap and pulled away. “In the final, we said to ourselves: it’s all or nothing – shift up a gear and that would almost have paid off,” San Millan told SPEEDWEEK.com, analysing the final in which he dropped back to third place behind Brandhofer and Godden, who won silver for the sixth time (!). “Finishing third at the European Championships on home soil is still a good result, even if we would have liked to become European champions. When you get out of the starting gate and take the lead, you want to hold on to it.”

Markus Brandhofer claimed his second European Championship title in Berghaupten, following his 2023 victory in Bad Hersfeld, and was delighted that his tactics paid off in the final. “I was right up there from the start and, coming out of the bend, I saw that only Raphael San Millan was ahead of me – that’s when I knew I could do it,” the Bavarian reflected for SPEEDWEEK.com. “I’m good at taking the outside line; that’s my strength. When the outside starting position was free in the final, I deliberately went for it and stepped it up a gear.”

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Manuel Meier, with Lena Siebert in the sidecar, rounded off the strong German result by finishing fourth in the final. Achim Neunendorf, in eighth place, and Nicole Standke, in twelfth, missed out on the final.

Results of the European Grass Track Sidecar Championship, Berghaupten/Germany: