Markus Venus and Markus Eibl led home a thrilling domination to win the 2024 European Sidecar Grasstrack Championship with a decisive performance in Uithuizen, in The Netherlands.
Contested by fourteen teams from seven different countries, the series saw its hard-fought Final after the Qualifying Round held in Germany at the beginning of August.
With a large audience of over 2.000 spectators excited for the challenge and the four legs of qualifying heats, with only German rider Markus Venus and his passenger Markus Eibl being unbeaten, all the expectations of a great show were accomplished.
The other two favourites, Mitch Godden and Paul Smith from Great Britain and Germans Markus Brandhofer and Sandra Mollema, both dropped valuable points in their early heats.
The toughest race of the night was going to be the B Final, in which the winner and the second placed teams qualify through to the “winner takes all A Final”.
As darkness fell and the floodlights illuminated the arena, the B Final was a hotly contested race with places changing on each of the four laps, with eventual winner Manuel Meier and Lena Siebert from Germany taking the chequered flag closely followed by Godden and Smith.
With the final session of track grading having been completed, the stage was set for the final dual of the gladiators, and as the four teams lined up at the starting tapes an eery silence fell over as the spectators knew they were going to be treated to an exciting final race.
As the tapes rose, Venus leaped out of the start, with the other three teams in close proximity. Places changed between Godden and the French team of Guillaume and brother Baptiste Comblon, although as the teams all raced to the finish line Venus and Eibl took the 2024 European title, closely followed by Godden and Smith with the Combon brothers in third place.
The crowing of the new 2024 European Champions, champagne and fireworks ended a thrilling night of racing with three different nationalities standing on the winner’s rostrum.
Words and Images by FIM Europe