2021 Sidecar World Championship

The 2021 Santander Salt FIM Sidecar World Championship was the 72nd season of the Sidecar World Championship. The championship was won by Markus Schlosser and Marcel Fries of Switzerland. The season was contested across seven rounds, six rounds consisting of two races, and the final round in Estoril with three races.[1]

Tim Reeves and Mark Wilkes entered the season as the reigning Driver and Passenger Sidecar World Champions respectively having won the championship in 2019.[2] The 2020 Sidecar World Championship was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3]

Entries

edit

The following teams and riders will be competing in the 2021 World Championship.[4]

Teams and Riders due to compete in the 2021 World Championship[4]
Team Chassis Engine No. Rider Rounds Passenger Rounds
  AMR Adolf RS Yamaha 25   Matt Maclaurin   Adrian Hope
  Drugsadvies Sidecarshop Racing LCR Yamaha 2   Kees Endeveld   Hendrik Crome
  Team FB Superside LCR Yamaha 32   Franck Barbier   Mickael Rigondeau
  Team SLR LCR Yamaha 72   Scott Lawrie   Ilse de Haas
  Cable Racing L&W Contractors Sidecar Team LCR Yamaha 112   Kevin Cable   Kyle Masters
  Kershaw Racing LCR Yamaha 29   Stephen Kershaw   Ryan Charlwood
  MRSC Gunskirchen LCR Yamaha 11   Peter Kimeswenger   Kevin Kölsch
  Dave Holden Racing LCR Yamaha 95   Lewis Blackstock   Patrick Rosney
  Santander Salt LCR Yamaha 6   Todd Ellis   Charlie 'Chaz' Richardson
  Team Gallerne RCN Kawasaki 7   Philippe Gallerne   Yann Druel
  Holden Racing ARS Yamaha 3   John Holden   Jason Pitt
  FHC Competition LCR Yamaha 78   Hugo Fretay   Joaquim Fenoy Casas
  Bonovo Action by MGM Adolf RS Yamaha 21   Bennie Streuer   Emmanuelle Clément
35   Josef Sattler   Luca Schmidt
77   Tim Reeves   Kevin Rousseau
  Gustoil Sidecar Racing Team LCR Yamaha 3   Markus Schlosser   Marcel Fries
41   Lukas Wyssen   Thomas Hofer
  Remse Racing Adolf RS Yamaha 55   Janez Remse   Manfred Wechselberger
  Perillat and Peugeot Racing Team LCR Yamaha 74   Ted Peugeot   Vincent Peugeot

Team and Rider Changes

edit

Superbike World Championship team, Bonovo Action by MGM Racing, will be making its Sidecar World Championship debut in 2021, fielding three bikes run by eight times World Champion Tim Reeves with passenger Kevin Rousseau; 2015 World Champion Bennie Streuer with new passenger, Emmanuel Clement and former Internationalen Deutschen Motorradmeisterschaft/Interessengemeinschaft Gespannrennen (IDM/IGG) Sidecar champion Josef Sattler with passenger Luca Schmidt.[citation needed]

Other teams scheduled to make their World Championship debut include AMR, Cable Racing L&W Contractors Sidecar Team, 2020 British F1 Sidecar Championship winning team, Kershaw Racing and 2020 International Sidecar SuperPrix winners Todd Ellis and Charlie 'Chaz' Richardson of Santander Salt.[citation needed]

Scott Lawrie is due to return to the championship in 2021 with former Bennie Streuer passenger, Ilse de Haas.[citation needed]

Calendar

edit

The 2021 calendar consisted of 7 rounds, each round consisting of 2 races of equal length.[5]

Round Date Country Circuit
1 11-12 June   France Circuit Bugatti, Le Mans
2 26-27 June   Hungary Pannónia-Ring, Ostffyasszonyfa
3 3-4 July   England Donington Park, Castle Donington
4 24-25 July   Netherlands TT Circuit Assen, Assen
5 21-22 July   Croatia Automotodrom Grobnik, Rijeka
6 2-3 October   Germany Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, Oschersleben
7 29-31 October   Portugal Circuito do Estoril, Estoril

The French round in Le Mans was part of the 2021 24 Heures Motos event with the FIM Endurance World Championship.[6] The British (Donington Park) and Dutch rounds was part of the United Kingdom and Netherlands FIM Superbike World Championship events.[1] The Second British round initially scheduled to take place from 15 to 17 October at Brands Hatch was to be part of the British Superbike finale event before it was cancelled. The Racing Commission made the decision to award double points for the final two races of the season to be held in Estoril on 29-31 October.[1][7]

Calendar changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic

edit

The provisional 2021 season calendar was announced on 7 January 2021, with 8 rounds scheduled. This included two rounds with the FIM Endurance World Championship, the 24 Heures Motos and Bol d'Or events, an unconfirmed round on 23 - 25 April, but not the two Superbike World Championship events.[5] On 9 February 2021 it was announced that the World Sidecar Championship would no longer be part of the 2021 Bol d'Or event due to a lack of sufficient track time and facilities as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated problems.[8]

Calendar expansions and changes from 2019 to 2021

edit

The championship will return to Donington Park after a five-year absence. Along with Dutch round, this will be the first time since Spain 2014 that the World Sidecar Championship will be part of a Superbike World Championship round.[9]

Similarly, the championship will return to Brands Hatch after a six-year absence, again, as part of a British Superbike event.[10]

The Portuguese round at the Circuito do Estoril, made its debut as the final event of the 2019 championship and has been scheduled again as the final event in 2021.[1]

The remaining four events of the 2021 calendar were all part of the 2019 championship.[11]

Championship changes

edit

The 2020 World Championship was due to be the first organised and run by new series promoter, RKB-F1 Motorsport[12] who was brought on by the FIM to run the World Championship after successfully running the British F1 Sidecar championship for several years. However, RKB-F1 Motorsport and the FIM were forced to cancel the 2020 World Championship due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] The 2021 World Championship will be this first to be organised and run by RKB-F1 Motorsport.

Race Weekend Structure

edit

Previously the World Championship utilised two race formats; a Gold Race that was a minimum of 70 km (43.5 mi) and maximum of 85 km (52.8 mi) in length; and a Sprint Race that was a minimum of 35 km (21.7 mi) and maximum of 45 km (28 mi) in length.[13] Rounds would then consist of either, a single Gold Race or both a Gold Race and a Sprint Race. For the 2021 World Championship each round will consist of two races of equal length that is a minimum of 7 0km (43.5 mi) and maximum of 85 km (52.8 mi) in length.[14]

Sporting Regulations

edit

The Sidecar World Championship will continue to use the MotoGP style points system, with points being awarded down to 15th place. For the final round of the 2021 World Champions the points allocated, for both races, will be multiplied by a factor of 1.5.[14]

Technical Regulations

edit

Although not outlawed explicitly previously, the use of a Drive-By-Wire system has been confirmed as legal for the 2021 championship.[14]

Season Summary

edit

Pre-season

edit

A number of the teams took part in five days of pre-season testing beginning on 22 March at the Circuit du Val de Vienne in France.[15] Several teams also organised their own private tests as well as an official RKB-F1 Motorsport organised test at the Snetterton circuit in the UK over the weekend of 10 & 11 April 2021 for British based teams unable to travel to mainland Europe because of COVID-19 travel restrictions.[16]

On 27 March During a French Superbike Championship Sidecar race at Le Mans, Josef Sattler with stand in passenger Ilse de Haas lost the bike under braking and crashed. Sattler injuring his collarbone and ribs, de Haas suffering concussion and broken ribs also.[17]

On 9 April 2021 at a private test organised by the Bonovo Action by MGM team at Oschersleben, Streuer/Clément crashed heavily as a result of suspected suspension failure. After initial medical assistance at the circuit, Streuer was taken by Helicopter to hospital in near by Magdeburg. It was confirmed Streuer had broken a number of vertebrae in the crash and underwent surgery three days later. Clément was thrown into the air during the impact but did not suffer any significant injuries.[17]

Results and Standings

edit

Races

edit
Round Location Race Pole Position Fastest Lap Winning Rider/Passenger Winning Team Winning chassis/constructor Report
1   Circuit Bugatti 1   Markus Schlosser /

  Marcel Fries

  Todd Ellis /

  Emmanuelle Clément

  Tim Reeves /

  Kevin Rousseau

  Team Bonovo Action    Adolf-RS-Yamaha Report
2   Markus Schlosser /

  Marcel Fries

  Markus Schlosser /

  Marcel Fries

  Gustoil Sidecar Racing Team    LCR-Yamaha
2   Pannónia-Ring 1   Markus Schlosser /

  Marcel Fries

  Markus Schlosser /

 Marcel Fries

 Markus Schlosser /

 Marcel Fries

  Gustoil Sidecar Racing Team    LCR-Yamaha Report
2   Tim Reeves /

  Kevin Rousseau

  Tim Reeves /

  Kevin Rousseau

  Team Bonovo Action    Adolf-RS-Yamaha
3   Donington Park 1   Todd Ellis /

  Emmanuelle Clément

  Tim Reeves /

  Kevin Rousseau

  Todd Ellis /

 Emmanuelle Clément

  Santander Salt Sidecar Team    LCR-Yamaha Report
2   Todd Ellis /

  Emmanuelle Clément

  Stephen Kershaw /

  Ryan Charlwood

  Kershaw Racing    LCR-Yamaha
4   TT Circuit Assen 1   Todd Ellis /

  Emmanuelle Clément

  Markus Schlosser /

  Marcel Fries

  Markus Schlosser /

  Marcel Fries

  Gustoil Sidecar Racing Team    LCR-Yamaha Report
2   Markus Schlosser /

 Marcel Fries

  Markus Schlosser /

  Marcel Fries

  Gustoil Sidecar Racing Team    LCR-Yamaha
5   Automotodrom Grobnik 1   Markus Schlosser /

  Marcel Fries

  Todd Ellis /

  Emmanuelle Clément

  Markus Schlosser /

 Marcel Fries

  Gustoil Sidecar Racing Team    LCR-Yamaha Report
2   Tim Reeves /

  Kevin Rousseau

  Tim Reeves /

 Kevin Rousseau

  Team Bonovo Action    Adolf-RS-Yamaha
6   Motorsport Arena Oschersleben 1   Markus Schlosser /

  Marcel Fries

  Markus Schlosser /

  Marcel Fries

  Markus Schlosser /

  Marcel Fries

  Gustoil Sidecar Racing Team    LCR-Yamaha Report
2   Markus Schlosser /

 Marcel Fries

  Markus Schlosser /

  Marcel Fries

  Gustoil Sidecar Racing Team    LCR-Yamaha
7   Circuito do Estoril 1   Tim Reeves /

  Kevin Rousseau

  Ben Birchall /

  Tom Birchall

  Ben Birchall /

 Tom Birchall

  Birchall Racing    LCR-Honda Report
2   Tim Reeves /

  Kevin Rousseau

  Harry Payne /

  Mark Wilkes

  Kelproperties.im Team #45    Adolf-RS-Yamaha
3   Ben Birchall /

  Tom Birchall

  Tim Reeves /

  Kevin Rousseau

  Team Bonovo Action    Adolf-RS-Yamaha
Sources:

World Championship standings

edit
Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top fifteen finishers. A rider had to finish the race to earn points. If a race were to be stopped with less than two-thirds of the original race distance completed, half points was to be awarded. For the final two races of the season in Estoril double points were awarded.[14]

Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th   11th   12th   13th   14th   15th 
Points 25 20 16 13 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Riders' championship

edit
Pos. Driver Passenger Bike FRA
 
HUN
 
GBR
 
NED
 
CRO
 
GER
 
POR
 
Pts.
R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3
1   Markus Schlosser   Marcel Fries LCR-Yamaha 2 1 1 1 2 DNF 1 1 1 2 1 1 12 3 3 328
2   Todd Ellis   Emmanuelle Clément LCR-Yamaha 3 2 3 2 1 3 DNF 2 2 3 2 3 3 5 4 269
3   Pekka Päivärinta   Ilse de Haas LCR-Yamaha 4 3 2 3 3 5 8 4 5 5 5 5 4 4 5 218
4   Stephen Kershaw   Ryan Charlwood LCR-Yamaha 5 7 DNF 5 DNF 1 2 3 3 4 6 7 8 2 6 212
5   Tim Reeves   Kevin Rousseau Adolf RS-Yamaha 1 5 DNF DSQ 4 2 3 DNF DNF 1 3 2 DNF DNF 1 196
6   Lukas Wyssen   Thomas Hofer LCR-Yamaha 6 6 6 6 7 8 6 7 10 8 7 6 12 128
7   Bennie Streuer   Jeroen Remmé Adolf RS-Yamaha DSQ DNF 4 6 4 4 2 7 7 105
8   Harry Payne   Mark Wilkes LCR-Yamaha 8 8 5 7 6 1 DNF 96
9   Ben Birchall   Tom Birchall LCR-Honda 1 9 2 79
10   Robb Biggs   Jeroen Schmitz LCR-Yamaha 6 5 8 11 9 8 10 78
11   Claude Vinet   Cyril Vinet LCR-Yamaha 9 10 70
  Damien Common LCR-Yamaha 11 DNF
  Melanie Farnier LCR-Yamaha 8 9 15 13 10 10 11
12   Ted Peugeot   Vincent Peugeot LCR-Yamaha 7 4 4 6 7 6 64
13   Peter Kimeswenger   Kevin Kölsch LCR-Yamaha 7 8 7 8 11 10 46
14   Kees Endeveld   Hendrik Crome LCR-Yamaha 8 8 5 7 DNF 9 DNS DNF 12 DNF 45
15   Janez Remše   Manfred Wechselberger Adolf RS-Yamaha 8 9 9 10 13 DNF 31
16   Kevin Cable   Max Vasseur LCR-Yamaha DNF DNF DNF 10 11 DNF 9 10 30
  Kyle Masters LCR-Yamaha 14 12
17   Stephane Gadet   Clotilde Salmon LCR-Kawasaki 11 12 30
  Valentin Pirat LCR-Kawasaki 11 11 13
18   Craig Currie   Justin Sharp LCR-Yamaha 5 DNF 8 27
19   Josef Sattler   Luca Schmidt Adolf RS-Yamaha 4 4 DNS DNS 26
20   Sam Cristie   Adam Cristie LCR-Yamaha 7 7 20
21   Lewis Blackstock   Patrick Rosney LCR-Yamaha 6 6 20
22   Philippe Le Bail   Serge Leveau LCR-Yamaha 10 9 DNF DNS 14 17
23   Scott Lawrie   Shelley Smithies LCR-Yamaha 9 9 14
24   Paul Leglise   Sebastien Lavorel LCR-Yamaha DNF DNS 9 14
25   Thomas Philip   Tom Bryant LCR-Yamaha DNF 4 13
26   John Holden   Jason Pitt Adolf RS-Yamaha DNF 9 13
27   Rupert Archer   Philip Hyde Adolf RS-Yamaha 10 10 12
28   Philippe Gallerne   Yann Druel RCN-Kawasaki 13 11 10
  Nicholas Bidault RCN-Kawasaki DNF 14
29   George Holden   Oscar Lawrence LCR-Suzuki 9 DNF 7
30   Benjamin Luneau   Nicholas Bidault LCR-Yamaha 10 DNF 6
30   Hugo Fretay   Joaquim Fenoy Casas LCR-Yamaha 12 DNF 4
31   Franck Barbier   Mickael Rigondeau LCR-Yamaha DNF DNS 0
Pos. Driver Passenger Bike FRA
 
HUN
 
GBR
 
NED
 
CRO
 
GER
 
POR
 
Pts.
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver Second place
Bronze Third place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Retired (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

Bold – Pole position
Italics – Fastest lap

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d "Sidecar round 4 joins WorldSBK at Assen". www.fim-moto.com. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  2. ^ "Tim Reeves & Mark Wilkes". FIM Awards. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  3. ^ a b "2020 FIM Sidecar World Championship cancelled". www.fim-moto.com. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  4. ^ a b "World Championship Riders & Teams | RKB F1 Motorsport | Molson British F1 Sidecar Championship | Santander Salt FIM Sidecar World Championship". Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Sidecar: 2021 provisional calendar announced". www.fim-moto.com. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  6. ^ "Sidecar opening round at Le Mans re-scheduled for June". www.fim-moto.com. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  7. ^ "2021 Bennetts British Superbike Championship in association with Pirelli". www.britishsuperbike.com. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  8. ^ "FIM Sidecar: Bol D'Or date cancelled for 2021". www.fim-moto.com. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  9. ^ "FIM Sidecar World Championship". www.fim-moto.com. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  10. ^ "FIM Sidecar World Championship | FIM". www.fim-moto.com. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  11. ^ "FIM Sidecar World Championship | FIM". www.fim-moto.com. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  12. ^ "FIM and Santander Salt Limited team-up". www.fim-moto.com. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  13. ^ "FIM Sidecar World Championship and Sidecar F2 World Trophy Regulations" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 April 2021.
  14. ^ a b c d "FIM Sidecar World Championship Regulations" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 April 2021.
  15. ^ "Log into Facebook". Facebook. Retrieved 20 April 2021. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  16. ^ Nutley, Barry. "British F1: Snetterton practice 10-11th April kick-starts 2021 season | RKB F1 Motorsport | Molson British F1 Sidecar Championship | Santander Salt FIM Sidecar World Championship". Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  17. ^ a b Slager, Evert (9 April 2021). "Zware crash Bennie Streuer & Emmanuelle Clément in Oschersleben". De snelste motorsportwebsite van Nederland (in Dutch). Retrieved 20 April 2021.