SidecarCross German Championship in Schwedt: Peter/Zimmermann sidecar pair on course for the title

After the German Sidecar Championship final, originally planned for Schenkenhorst, was cancelled, the penultimate race of the series took place in Schwedt. The 2026 German Champion will therefore be crowned this coming Saturday afternoon in Aichwald, Swabia. The odds are in favour of Adrian Peter and Julian Zimmermann celebrating their first DM title then. This is because, in Schwedt, their closest rivals, Leon Hofmann and Leon Freygang, were unable to close the 32-point gap to the championship leaders, despite winning one of the races.

Both teams went into the race having experienced some stressful moments. During qualifying, Peter’s sidecar suffered clutch problems, just as they had on the previous German Championship Saturday in Dolle. This time, the team were finally able to pinpoint the root cause of the fault and rectify it in time for the races. In contrast, the ignition system on Hofmann’s sidecar was playing up again. Fearing the worst, the crew replaced the spark plug. And lo and behold – at the very last minute, the engine ran without a hitch.

Meanwhile, Peter and Zimmermann had made the most of those few seconds and secured the best starting position – which proved decisive for Schwedt – even though they’d finished second behind Hofmann and Freygang in qualifying. Hofmann: “I was just glad the sidecar was running in time at all. So I just lined up somewhere on the grid.”

Unchallenged start-to-finish victory

Peter/Zimmermann capitalised on their advantage on the partly sandy, partly hard track to secure a clear start-to-finish victory. Hofmann managed to secure second place, even though Leon Freygang had injured his left foot. Fearing a fracture, he didn’t even take his boot off between the races. Two painkillers were supposed to help him get through the second race somehow. But things turned out even better: this time, the two Leons secured the best starting position and with it, victory. Peter and Zimmermann didn’t get off to the best start from the grid and initially had to fight their way past Patrick Hengster and Justin Blume. After that, Peter deemed it too risky to challenge Hofmann for the win on the sometimes treacherous track. This means their lead remains at 32 points. Only a complete failure in Aichwald can now prevent the duo from clinching their first German Championship title. Peter has already been runner-up four times.

However, Leon Hofmann hasn’t secured the runners-up spot just yet either. First, Freygang’s foot injury needs to be assessed. In any case, Hofmann is already working on a Plan B in case his tenacious co-driver is unable to compete. With a 42-point deficit, Hengster/Blume still have, at least in theory, a chance of finishing second in the German Championship. There is no longer any threat from behind for the third-placed pair in the German Championship: David Schellmann and Ben Gutekunst are a full 55 points behind. Either way, Hengster was satisfied: “Finally, a race without any problems again...”

Injuring his already injured foot even further

Jan Hoormann, however, did have problems. Co-driver Paul Kinder sprained his already injured right foot. That brought the first race to an end after five laps. Whether Hoormann will compete in Aichwald or at the following World Championship weekend in Straßbessenbach is therefore anyone’s guess. In the German Championship standings, Lorenz Karsunke could still challenge him for seventh place. At just 16 years of age, supported by veteran Ronny Benning in the co-driver’s seat, he put in a remarkable performance and at least completed the second race without being lapped. Joshua Torge and Florian Plettke managed this on both occasions, as did the Häcker brothers, Noah and Jannik, and Schellman and Gutekunst in the first heat.

The cards will be reshuffled for the German Championship final on the hard track in Aichwald. The field of riders there is also set to be more competitive, with over 25 sidecars expected to take part. The Swabian stars of yesteryear have announced their participation, including Tobias Garhammer and Michael Klooz, Marcel Faustmann, Christian Sieber and Tobias Hertfelder, as well as Ronny Gloor from Switzerland. It’s always a pleasure to see them again.

Results of the Motocross Sidecar German Championship in Schwedt, Germany:

German Championship standings after 12 of 14 races: