The last Bert Poensgen Cup in 2024 went to Robert Werth at the end of the racing season. He was honored for his achievements in the team scene. Text: Anke Wieczorek; Photo: private
At the end of the year, Robert Werth, a man who is not active as a driver but behind the scenes, was honored with the Bert Poensgen Cup in the International German Motorcycle Championship (IDM). The Hessian pulls the strings in the sidecar scene and kept it alive with a lot of heart and soul when it threatened to disappear. The 69-year-old placed his trophy in the living room at home in Birstein.
Robert Werth received the last edition of the Bert Poensgen Cup for his many years of service in the IDM Sidecar. He was extremely happy about it, but he doesn’t like the hype around him so much, which is why he emphasizes right away: “It’s very important to me to say that the great board member from two years ago with Marcel Fries, Marcus Gerzack, Christian Ruppert, Markus Schwegler and Klaus Knobloch were involved. The solidarity was unique and we were able to understand and trust each other blindly.”
Robert Werth in particular was behind the fact that a sidecar race was held on the Schleizer triangle in the 2024 season. Due to the low participation the year before, he was temporarily on the brink and was in danger of missing out on the racing stronghold. An absurdity for Werth. As the first chairman of the trailer drivers’ interest group (IGG), he made a lot of calls and also dug into his own pockets to be able to organize a guest race. In the end, in addition to the teams that competed in the IDM classification, even the five-time world champions Pekka Päivärinta/Adam Christie, the current defending champions Todd Ellis/Emmanuelle Clement and, among others, the current world championship leaders Markus Schlosser/Luca Schmidt took part.
Robert Werth doesn’t just talk, he does. As team boss, he is currently supporting the two-time grass track European champion and eight-time German champion in the 500 sidecar class, Markus Venus. It will stay that way. Just like the IGG tent in the paddock, where every driver has a place to go and can ask questions. Robert Werth says: “We help everyone as best we can.”
