Marko Happich
| Marko Happich | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | German | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 1971 (age 52–53) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | Official website | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Marko Happich (born 1971)[1] is a German former sidecarcross rider. Internationally, his greatest success was a runners-up finish in the Sidecarcross World Championship, achieved in 2004, while domestically he has won six national German Sidecarcross Championships.
After twenty years in the sidecarcross sport Happich retired at the end of the 2012 season.[2]
Racing career
German Championship
Happich first entered the German national championship in 1994 with passenger Peer Kasseckert, also winning the German sidecarcross cup, a second-string competition, in 1994. Happich soon achieved top-ten finishes and won his first national championship in 2001, with Sebastian Böhme as his passenger.[3][4]
For the next decade Happich became one of the dominant drivers in the national championship, winning titles in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2009 while finishing runners-up in 2002, 2007, 2010 and 2011. In the last two instances Happich missed out on the national title by just one point. He had his most dominant season in 2004 when he, with Thomas Weinmann as his passenger who himself had already won five German titles alongside his brother Klaus, won 14 out of 16 season races in the competition. Apart from Böhme (2001) and Weinmann (2004) Happich won his other four titles with Gertain Wijs (2003), Meinrad Schelbert (2006, 2008) and Martin Betschart (2009) as his passengers. From 2007 onwards the national German championship became an international one, allowing non-German riders to win it and increasing competition, resulting in Swiss rider Andy Bürgler finishing ahead of runners-up Happich that season.[5] He officially retired from all competition at the end of the 2012 season.[3][4]
Happich made an on-off return to the German Championship in 2014, racing in Geisleden in May 2014, coming fourth in the first race but suffering a flat tire in the second.[6]
World Championship
Entering the Sidecarcross World Championship from 1996, Happich slowly improved in the competition over the years and earned his first top-ten finish in 2000. For the next ten seasons, from 2000 to 2009 Happich finished in the top-ten every year, culminating in a second place in 2004 as his best-ever result. He also won two Grand Prix that season, in Croatia and Latvia, but never truly challenged for the World Championship, finishing 153 points behind eventual winners Daniel Willemsen and Kaspars Stupelis.[7][8]
Happich once more finished in the top-three in 2006, now in third place and managed to win a third and final Grand Prix in Belgium 2009. His final three seasons in the competition were less successful, coming fifteenth, eighth and eighteenth and taking out his last race win in Rudersberg, Germany, in 2010.[9]
He announced his intention to retire at the end of 2012 before the start of the new season, citing his amateur status when the top riders were all professionals, his age and the difficulty to raise a six-digit budget each season through sponsors as his reasons.[10] His final season was affected by a shoulder injury, missing a number of mid-season Grand Prix but returning in time for the last event of the season.[7][8][11]
Private life
Happich lives in Großwilsdorf, near Naumburg, where he works as a swim instructor at a local pool. He is a member of the local motocross club MSC Teutschenthal, based in Teutschenthal.[1]
In 2006 he lost a downhill race against Austrian skier Stephan Eberharter at Obertauern as part of the German television show Wetten, dass..?, the race being broadcast live on television. Eberharter skied down while Happich raced down in his sidecarcross, losing by just under one second.[1][12]
Season by season
The season by season results in the World Championship for Marko Happich:[7][8]
| Season | Passenger | Equipment | Position | Points | Races | Wins | Second | Third |
| 1996 | Peer Kasseckert | MTH-EML | 47 | 1 | 1 | — | — | — |
| 1997 | Beat Meyer | MTH-EML | 26 | 17 | 5 | — | — | — |
| 1998 | Beat Meyer | MTH-EML | 16 | 62 | 16 | — | — | — |
| 1999 | Sebastian Böhme | MTH-EML | 17 | 61 | 16 | — | — | — |
| 2000 | Sebastian Böhme Tobias Sylwan | MTH-EML | 10 | 107 | 14 | — | — | — |
| 2001 | Sebastian Böhme | Zabel-VMC | 9 | 170 | 19 | — | — | — |
| 2002 | Sebastian Böhme Gertain Wijs | Zabel-VMC | 5 | 343 | 26 | — | — | — |
| 2003 | Gertain Wijs | Zabel-VMC | 7 | 301 | 22 | — | — | 2 |
| 2004 | Thomas Weinmann | Zabel-VMC | 2 | 419 | 23 | 1 | 8 | 6 |
| 2005 | Meinrat Schelbert Sandro Michelotto | Zabel-VMC | 5 | 274 | 18 | — | — | 5 |
| 2006 | Meinrat Schelbert Mark Watson | Zabel-VMC | 3 | 243 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2007 | Meinrat Schelbert | Zabel-VMC | 7 | 180 | 16 | — | 1 | 1 |
| 2008 | Meinrat Schelbert | Zabel-MEFO | 5 | 317 | 24 | — | 1 | 3 |
| 2009 | Martin Betschart | Zabel-MEFO | 4 | 377 | 24 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 2010 | Martin Betschart | Zabel-MEFO | 15 | 177 | 19 | 1 | — | 1 |
| 2011 | Meinrat Schelbert | Zabel-VMC | 8 | 317 | 26 | — | — | 2 |
| 2012 | Martin Betschart | Zabel-VMC | 18 | 83 | 10 | — | — | — |
| Overall 1996 – 2012 | 3,449 | 293 | 4 | 14 | 23 | |||
Key
| 1 | World Champions |
| 2 | Runners-up |
| 3 | Third placed |
| 4 – 10 | Driver finished fourth to tenth |
Honours
- Sidecarcross World Championship
- Runners-up: 2004
- German national Sidecarcross Championship
- Winners: (7) 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009
- Runners-up: (4) 2002, 2007, 2010, 2011
References
- ^ a b c Marko Happich im Interview Template:De icon MSC Teutschenthal website, published: 15 May 2012, accessed: 7 November 2014
- ^ Mit Vollgas in die Motocross-Rente Template:De icon Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, published: 20 November 2012, accessed: 7 November 2014
- ^ a b SIDECAR CROSS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GERMANY The John Davey Pages, accessed: 7 November 2014
- ^ a b Statistik/ Hall Of Fame Template:De icon www.sidecarcross.de, accessed: 7 November 2014
- ^ Happich zweimal vorn, aber Schweizer jubeln Template:De icon Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, published: 10 September 2007, accessed: 7 November 2014
- ^ Gespann-DM: Wiedersehen mit Marko Happich Template:De icon speedweek.com, published: 12 May 2014, accessed: 7 November 2014
- ^ a b c Official World Championship classification 2000–present FIM website, accessed: 17 November 2014
- ^ a b c MARKO HAPPICH GP RECORD The John Davey Pages, accessed: 7 November 2014
- ^ Happich fährt im WM-Finale sogar noch aufs Podest Template:De icon Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, published: 14 September 2010, accessed: 7 November 2014
- ^ Auf Abschiedstour Template:De icon Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, published: 9 March 2012, accessed: 7 November 2014
- ^ Vorzeitiges Karriere-Ende? Template:De icon Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, published: 5 July 2012, accessed: 7 November 2014
- ^ Mit 100 Sachen über die Piste Template:De icon Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, published: 29 January 2006, accessed: 7 November 2014