The three days of testing went well for some world championship sidecar teams. The test was held in Croatia, where the weather was dry and sunny, but the second day was very windy, and these conditions did affect the handling of the sidecars on the back section of the Grobnic race track.
2014 Champions Tim Reeves and Gregory Cluze were due to attend the pre-season rendez-vous; unfortunately they were sidelined from the test as Reeves had an injury to his back. Both Reeves and Cluze were disappointed, as they have a new chassis and need to get it set up for the battle to try and retain their title.
Four times champion Pekka Paivarenta was present with his partner Kirsi Kainulainen. Kirsi will also be passenger to Paivarinta for the 2015 season. She is no stranger to the high speeds involved in motorcycle sport as she contests the Finish motorcycle championship for solo motorcycles. The team had a mechanical problem with their machine on the second day of testing and had to work late into the night to sort the problem. Both Paivarinta and Kainulainen are really looking forward to the new season and can hardly wait to get racing again with their BMW powered LCR.
The Dutch pairing of Bennie Streuer and Geert Koerts have a new LCR chassis with Suzuki power. The test did not go totally to plan for the team though. Streuer said, “The new chassis is great; it is so positive cornering, very stable. We did have a problem with the rear suspension on the last day of testing. We borrowed a shock absorber from another team, but unfortunately we could not continue with the test as the shock would not fit the machine. We are still happy with the test though. We got some good data from the engine and the other things we wanted to try went well.” Passenger Koerts said, “We are really fired up for this season. We will be fighting hard for a great result in the championship.”
A welcome return to the championship this year will be Janez Remse. The Slovenian driver was sidelined from the championship at the second round last year due to a crash. His passenger then was James Biggs from England, who has retired from the sport now but assists in the setup of the machine. Remse will have another Englishman for his passenger in the 2015 season: Stuart Ramsay has raced in the British F2 sidecar championship. The 27 year old said, “What an opportunity this is for me. To get the chance to race in the World Championship is great. I am really looking forward to this new challenge.”
Another Slovenian driver at the test was Milan Spendal. He has not raced in the championship for the last two years, but is hoping to make a comeback this year. He has been trying a new passenger, Edis Suljphvic, also from Slovenia, and they have had a trouble free practice, with Spendal taking things steady getting used to the machine again and letting Suljphovic find his way round being a sidecar passenger. They hope they can go on to contest the 2015 Championship.