Marko Happich

Marko Happich (born 1971) 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.

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.

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. He officially retired from all competition at the end of the 2012 season.

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.

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. 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.

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.

Season by season The season by season results in the World Championship for Marko Happich: Season Passenger Equipment Position Points Races Wins Second Third1996 Peer KasseckertMTH-EML4711———1997 Beat MeyerMTH-EML26175———1998 Beat MeyerMTH-EML166216———1999 Sebastian Böhme MTH-EML176116———2000 Sebastian Böhme Tobias SylwanMTH-EML 1010714———2001 Sebastian Böhme Zabel-VMC 917019———2002 Sebastian Böhme Gertain Wijs Zabel-VMC 534326———2003 Gertain Wijs Zabel-VMC 730122——22004 Thomas WeinmannZabel-VMC 2 419231862005 Meinrat Schelbert Sandro MichelottoZabel-VMC 527418——52006 Meinrat Schelbert Mark Watson Zabel-VMC 3 243141122007 Meinrat Schelbert Zabel-VMC 718016—112008 Meinrat Schelbert Zabel-MEFO 531724—132009 Martin Betschart Zabel-MEFO 4377241312010 Martin Betschart Zabel-MEFO15177191—12011 Meinrat Schelbert Zabel-VMC 831726——22012 Martin Betschart Zabel-VMC188310——— Overall 1996 – 20123,44929341423

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