Cremona: Markus Venus/Thomas Hofer in 8th place in the World Championship after two 10th-place finishes

Intense heat, motor racing, people and equipment – it’s often a difficult combination. The teams had already had to contend with sweltering heat during the Sidecar World Championship races in Pau Arnos, in the south of France. Last weekend in Cremona, in the Italian region of Lombardy – situated on the left bank of the River Po in the heart of the Po Valley – it was no less hot.

“It was quite good that we’d already had a chance to get used to the temperatures in Pau Arnos; at least we were mentally prepared for the stifling heat in Cremona,” said Markus Venus, looking back. However, one engine refused to play ball.

Whilst the whole ITW Racing Team still saw potential in the practice times, the 600cc Yamaha engine eventually gave up the ghost during practice and had to be replaced. This meant the new engine first had to be run in. In qualifying, Venus and Hofer then secured twelfth place on the grid under these difficult conditions.

How did the sprint and the main race go?

During Saturday’s sprint race on the 3.768 m-long Circuit Angelo Begamonti, it was incredibly hot, which once again took its toll on both rider and machine. Venus and Hofer finished in 10th place. Venus: “Our expectations were admittedly a bit higher, but from the third lap onwards the automatic gearbox stopped working and I had to change gears manually for the rest of the race, which cost us quite a bit of time. That was a shame, because otherwise we could have achieved more.”

In Sunday’s main race, shortened to 18 laps due to the heat, Markus Venus and Thomas Hofer also secured 10th place. But a bit of bad luck was also a factor here. “I was just about to make a move to overtake when the safety car had to come onto the track because of a fire involving another sidecar team, and the race was run to the end without any overtaking being allowed,” said the Pfarrkirchen native, expressing his regret at the situation afterwards.”

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Conclusion and outlook

Venus continued: “Yes, yes, the technology let us down a bit; the faulty engine in practice meant we missed out on important practice laps, and we could have achieved more if the automatic gearbox hadn’t broken down in the sprint race, but we’ve picked up some important points for the World Championship and are thoroughly satisfied with that.”

The next two World Championship rounds take place on 19–20 August at the TT Circuit in Assen, the Netherlands (NL). But this coming weekend, 15–16 August, Venus and Hofer will be competing in the Historic Grand Prix at the Schottenring, a street circuit in Schotten in the Vogelsberg district of Hesse.

Sidecar World Championship, standings after 8 of 12 races:

• 1. Harry Payne/Kevin Rousseau (GB/F), 152.5 points

• 2. Pekka Päivärinta/Adam Christie (FIN/GB), 148

• 3. Sam Christie/Tom Christie (GB), 137

• 4. Markus Schlosser/Lucas Krieg (CH/D), 86.5

• 5. Ted Peugeot/Vincent Peugeot (F), 65

• 6. Todd Ellis/Emmanuelle Clément (GB/F), 58

• 7. Bennie Streuer/Manon Vissenberg (NL), 54

• 8. Markus Venus/Thomas Hofer (Germany/Switzerland), 47.5

• 9. Paul Leglise/Marjorie Cescutti (F), 46.5

• 10. Corey Turner/Danyon Turner (AUS), 44.5

• 11. Tim Reeves/Melanie Farnier (GB/F), 37

• 12. Paul Kirby/Ema Salmon (GB/F), 23

• 13. Cyril Vinet/Gerald Vinet (F), 23

• 14. Manuel Moreau/Alice Roba (F/B), 22

• 15. Kevin Cable/Yann Druet (GB/F), 21

• 16. Wiggert Kranenburg/Loris Charteau (NL/F), 18

• 17. Claude Vinet/Leane Marsal (F), 15

• 18. Thomas Eder/Kevin Kölsch (Germany), 14

• 19. Patrick Werkstetter/Valentin Pirat (Germany/France), 10

• 20. Raymond Leijdekkers/Océane Bataille (F), 7.5

• 21. Michael Brillault/Fabrice Deturche (F), 6.5

• 22. Pierre Leguen/Leopold Rouby (F), 5.5

• 23. Lewis Nicol/Clement Conil (GB/F), 5

• 24. Ulric Brillaut/Cora Marsal (F), 2