Sidecar Festival: Three days of packed programme including title deciders

The Sidecar Festival on the first weekend of Octoberat the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben – where the spectator stands are situated six to eight metres above the track, allowing the action to be followed along a large part of the 3.667-kilometre circuit – has for years been a fitting finale to a thrilling season.

Once again this year, in the heart of the Magdeburg Börde, the title will be decided in the twelve-race Sidecar World Championship, with three teams – Steinhausen Racing (Harry Payne/Kevin Rousseau), Hänni Racing (Pekka Päivärinta/Adam Christie) and CES Performance (Sam Christie/Tom Christie) still have a chance to claim the world championship crown.

Things are just as thrilling in the International Sidecar Trophy. In each of the three classes, the standings could be turned on their head, as there are three races on the programme, with double points being awarded in one of them. This rule was introduced to ensure that the championship is not decided before the final.

In the 1000cc class, Mike Roscher and Anna Burkhard arrive in Oschersleben with a perfect record. Although the pair have won every race so far, with a hundred points still up for grabs, their 66.5-point lead over Peter Schröder and Carolin Zimmermann might not be enough to secure a fourth consecutive title in the end.

Int. Sidecar Trophy 600: Titelanwärter Enrico Wirth/Ronja Billich

Foto: Helmut Ohner

Had Enrico Wirth and Ronja Billich not rolled their bike at the Slovakia Ring, they could already have been chilling the champagne. As it stands, however, they are only 17.5 points ahead of Benjamin Herpel and Luca Siemß, and Markus Volland and Lena Gubernath could theoretically still clinch the championship in the 600cc sidecar class.

Jürgen Damaschke and Luca Grunow are 14 points ahead of Thilo Wotzka and Carmen Laudy going into the final three rounds of the F2 Challenge. With the rest of the field already trailing far behind, it is set to be a thrilling head-to-head battle between the two teams, with the outcome still up for grabs.

Whilst Hilbert Talens and Felix Pinkert have successfully defended their title in the 1000cc class of the Northern Sidecar Cup, everything is still to play for in the 600cc class. The father-son duo Raymond Leijdekkers and Calvin Leijdekkers (183 points) are in the best position, but Mel Delamarre and Cedric Chevalier (168) are hot on their heels.

The races for the Camathias Cup, a racing series featuring classic sidecars, the demonstration laps – in which, amongst others, the Austrian sidecar world champion and three-time Tourist Trophy winner Klaus Klaffenböck will be taking part alongside the three-time Swiss world champion Adolf Hänni – as well as the public rides will provide plenty of entertainment.