Podium finish for Ellis and Richardson in Germany

North Kelsey sidecar driver Todd Ellis with passenger Charlie Richardson headed to Germany for the first of the two round International Sidecar Superprix where the pair completed the two races at Oschersleben in a fourth and third place.

A concerted effort between the RKB-F1 Motorsport/Santander Salt, MSVR and a major German commercial partner, has resulted in a two-round, four-race International Sidecar Superprix to run in Germany and the UK. The popular Oschersleben track hosted the opener over the weekend of October 2-4 with the climax two weeks later at Brands Hatch on October 16-18.

Named The Bonovo Cup, the German leg presented an unavoidable clash with the penultimate round of the Molson British Sidecar championship at Donington Park which left Ellis/Richardson a choice to either race the British round where they currently held second place or go to Germany for a foray into the Bonovo Cup.

t was not a difficult choice as Ellis/Richardson had intended to contest the world championship in 2020 but this was cancelled because of the pandemic and it was the obvious choice to get some international racing under their belts in this two round championship to see how they fared against the best racers in the world.

Ellis/Richardson rode well during qualifying to claim a second row start to the first race setting the fourth fastest lap with a 1m 32.92s lap on their LCR Honda and were looking forward to their debut race on the world scene.

The sun was out and the track temperature was warm as the sidecar teams lined up on the grid for the first of the two 16 lap races and as the lights went out Ellis/Richardson slotted into fourth place behind Schlosser/Fries.

They then entered into a battle with Sattler/Schmidt which ended when; four laps from the end of the race, Sattler/Schmidt were forced out when their sidecar wheel cover flew off.

This left Ellis/Richardson to bring their outfit home in a safe fourth place.

Spurred on by their strong showing in race one Ellis/Richardson got a good start to the second encounter and moved straight up into second place behind Schlosser/Fries.

As the race unfolded the top two teams began to pull a gap on the next five teams but with a few laps remaining Streuer/DeHaas began to catch Ellis/Richardson and snatched their second place away on the way to the chequered flag.

But Todd Ellis was delighted with third place and will be anxious for more international action at Brands Hatch this weekend when the two races will be run alongside the British Sidecar grid.

The timetable is: Friday - free practice 9.30am and 12.50pm. Qualifying 5.15pm. Saturday - 12 lap race one 12.25pm. Sunday - 14 lap race 11.30am.