Reigning Sidecar World Champions Steve Webster and passenger Paul Woodhead blasted back to winning ways at the brand-new, but very wet Lausitzring, Germany yesterday in the 5th round of the 10-race 2001 series.
After dominating qualifying to get pole position, wonderful Easingwold-based Webbo shot off at the start and was never headed, steering his Team Liveonscreen LCR Suzuki 1200 to a well-earned victory, taking the flag by over 17 seconds from championship leaders Klaus Klaffenbock and Christian Parzer.
the disappointments of the last two outings at Monza and Donington resulting in non-finishes, Webster knew he had to start winning if he was to make any attempt to chip away at Klaffenbock's maximum-score three-victory points haul, and he did it in text-book style:
"With the heavy rain we knew the visibility would be very poor, so we couldn't afford to be anywhere other than first away from the grid. I made sure we built up a gap early on and kept it that way. It wasn't very entertaining for the crowd, but it was just what we needed" said a happy Webster, who started from pole position for the 4th time in five races this season.
It was also his 44th World Championship win in 144 race starts, and comes almost a year since his last victory, last June, at Misano, Italy.
"The bike ran perfectly all weekend, and more importantly, Paul's knee came through it without a twinge. It was a very twisty circuit, and if his knee hadn't have been ok we would have found out about it early on. All in all a great day, and it's great to finally get our first win of the season" beamed Webster.
Klaffenbock and Parzer were second, with Scots pair Stuart Muldoon and Trevor Crone making up the rostrum placings in third. Klaffenbock is still a considerable way out in front with 95 points, but the race win yesterday lifts Webbo and Woody up to 3rd in the table, but still some 50 points down on Klaffenbock. With 25 points for a win, realistically, Klaffenbock will have to have two non-finishes and Webster to win them in his absence to make up the deficit. With five rounds to go it's got to be fingers crossed for Webbo - it's a long shot at the moment, but you can be sure he won't be giving up the title without a major to-the-last-corner battle, and he'll be out to get as many race wins as he can to salvage some Yorkshire pride from the season.
The next round is at what should be a warm and sunny Misano, Italy on June 24th.
Race results:
1 Webster/Woodhead (Liveonscreen Racing)
2 Klaffenbock/Parzer (Team Klaffenbock Racing) +17.058
3 Muldoon/Crone (Clark GP Excalibur) +2:12.566
4 Roscher/Neubert (RSC Roscher Sidecar) one lap
5 Hauzenberger/Hanni (Hanni Racing) one lap
6 Gottlich/Helbig (Gottlich Racing) one lap
7 Liechti/Locher (Sidecar Team Liechti Locher) one lap
8 Eilers/Kolloch (Rennteam Eilers) one lap
9 Guy/Peach (liveonscreen Racing) one lap
10 Hanks/Biggs (Hanks Racing) 1:51.746 one lap
Championship standings after five rounds:
1 Klaffenbock/Parzer 95pts
2 Abbott/Biggs 53
3 Webster/Woodhead 45
4 Hauzenberger/Hanni 42
5 Steinhausen/Hetherington 37
6 Liechti/Locher 33
7 Hanks/Biggs 30
8 Roscher/Neubert 29
Updated: 09:39 Monday, June 11, 2001
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