Success is no coincidence: Tom Eder continues to test diligently even after the season

As a reminder: it was only at the start of August that, following countless test runs on various race tracks, Thomas Eder deemed his performance good enough to take part in his first sidecar race – the International Sidecar Trophy at the Red Bull Ring. Prior to that, he had been competing as a solo rider in the German and Austrian Motorcycle Circuit Championships – in 2019, he clinched the championship title in the IOEM Superstock 600 class.

With Kevin Kölsch by his side – who had spent months introducing him to the ins and outs of sidecar racing – he made a perfect debut. Finishing fourth in the first race, they narrowly missed out on the podium. Things went a fair bit better in the second race. The German pairing had warmed up for their World Championship debut a week later in Cremona by securing victory. With two ninth-place finishes, their World Championship debut can certainly be described as a success.

Their subsequent World Championship appearances also saw them finish impressively in the top 10. At the final at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, Eder andKölsch secured sixth place in the main race following a thrilling battle with the Australian brothers Corey and Danyon Turner, as well as the German-French duo Patrick Werkstetter and Valentin Pirat, a result that lifted them to eleventh place in the overall Sidecar World Championship standings.

You shouldn’t always trust advice from fellow racing drivers

Whilst most of his rivals had wrapped up their season, the 41-year-old sidecar novices headed to Great Britain to test their competitiveness against the British three-wheeler elite on their home turf, racing with Kölsch at the historic Brands Hatch circuit in the BSB Sidecar rounds.

The fact that Eder/Kölsch finished the free practice session in last place with their ARS Yamaha was not down to a lack of track knowledge, but rather to some ‘good’ advice from a fellow racer, as Kölsch revealed in an interview with SPEEDWEEK.com: “The track was wet and Paul Kirby was convinced that wet tyres would be the better choice. Even at the pre-start, we could see that our rivals had opted for slicks. By then, it was already too late for a tyre change.”

In qualifying, they set the tenth-fastest time out of 21 teams, and in the first race the German pair managed to finish as high as eighth. In Race 2, they improved on that result. “We were only just over three-tenths of a second off fourth place. I had one chance to make a move, but I lacked the determination. If the race had lasted just one lap longer, Sean Hegarty and Rob Biggs would have been caught,” Eder is certain.

Eder: “The test showed that Kevin and I have potential”

But even after this remarkable performance in mid-October, Eder still didn’t allow his team a winter break. The next test sessions were already scheduled for the second weekend in November, for which his experienced co-driver had undertaken a journey of over seven hours. In single-digit temperatures, different chassis set-ups were compared over two days at the Pannonia Ring.

Despite the less-than-ideal conditions, a personal best time was achieved – one that would have put us in contention for a place on the podium at the 2025 World Championship rounds on this circuit. Eder: “The test was positive and provided a lot of insights. Above all, it showed us that Kevin and I have potential. I simply still lack the experience to know how changes to the sidecar will affect performance.”

Rollentauch: Thomas Eder kann auch Beifahrer

Foto: Helmut Ohner

Final standings in the Sidecar World Championship after 12 races