From a Superside press release:

The Superside pendulum swung back in the favour of Klaus Klaffenbock today in a dramatic German round at Oschersleben.

This hot action of the Superside race was seen by a record crowd at Oschersleben, with more than 70,000 fans in attendance.

The Austrian driver and his passenger Christian Parzer regained the Sidecar World Championship advantage when reigning champion Steve Webster retired when the motor tightened up with bottom end trouble with nine laps remaining.

That allowed Klaffenbock, who had suffered a traumatic weekend, to storm through to pick up the 25 points and take that lead into the final two rounds.

Klaffenbock said, “This weekend has been unbelievable. We blew up four engines and changed the last one with 20 minutes to go before the start of the race and only finished it with five minutes to go.

“We were not the fastest on the track – but we were the luckiest. Our mechanics worked all through Friday night and did a fantastic job.”

Webster’s fate also pushed Jorg Steinhausen into second place. But he was unable to hang on to that result as, after running wide, passenger Trevor Hopkinson was thrown out of the sidecar.

Despite a recently broken ankle, he tried to run after his driver, who was unaware of what had happened.

That allowed Steve Abbott and Jamie Biggs to come through into second place and they closed the gap on Klaffenbock to just 0.360 seconds in an exciting finish.

Abbott said, “For somebody to lose their rider is unfortunate but that’s how racing goes. Early on the engine was getting warm so I decided to have a breather and have a go at the end.”

Third place – and their first podium finish – went to Tom Hanks and Jamie Biggs’ brother, Phil.

Phil Biggs said, “I have always dreamed about being on the podium with our Jamie and now it has happened.”

Tom Hanks added, “I have been waiting for them to drop out one by one. I wanted our first podium at Brands but I’ll take it here. I’m over the moon.”

Ian Guy and Andy Peach had a lonely race for fourth with the rear tyre going off in the early stages of the race. The machine was sliding around dramatically, causing Andy to pull a muscle in his right arm.

The Van Gils duo came fifth after a clash with Muldoon and Crone, which saw the Scottish pairing crash out of the race at the Hasseroder hairpin.

Eight-time Isle of Man TT winner, Rob Fisher and Rick Long were going well until the breather hose fell off, causing oil to leak onto his braking foot. He will be back as a wild card at the final round at Imola.

Results:

1. Klaffenbock/Parzer 44:14.005
2. Abbot/Biggs +0.360
3. Hanks/Biggs +44.823
4. Guy/Peach 1 Webster/Woodhead +1.25.738
5. Van Gils/Van Gils + one lap
6. Founds/Founds + one lap
7. Gottlich/Helbig + one lap
8. Roscher/Neubert + one lap
9. Steenbergen/Buyze + one lap
10. Eilers/Kolloch + two laps

Championship standings after seven rounds:

1. Parzer/Klaffenbock 120pts
2. Woodhead/Webster 95
3. Hopkinson/Steinhausen 75
4. Biggs/Abbott 73
5. Biggs/Hanks 61
6. Peach/Guy 53
7. Crone/Muldoon 52
8. Locher/Liechti 52
9. Hanni/Hauzenberger 44
10. Wafler/Schroder 42