HUNDREDS of sidecars and solo machines descended on Cadwell Park this weekend as the International Sidecar Revival swung into action with Bemsee.
From classics to post-classics, grand prix bikes to pre-injections and Camathias Cup outfits to British Sidecar championship races, the meeting was brimmed with both two and three-wheeled competition.
In the event’s only other solo scraps besides the action-packed GP Originals, classics regular Pete Boast swept Saturday’s action on his Pre-1992 Silkolene Oils Yamaha, edging Cadwell ace Aaron Staniforth by less than 0.7s each time while Mark Ess and Gordon Russell split thirds.
But on Sunday, Paxford Garage Honda man Staniforth struck back and bagged the opening win by nearly eight seconds before Boast was back at it in the final scrap to complete his hat-trick with his third win of the weekend as Hi Lite Signs’ Ess nabbed another two podiums.
Benelli-mounted James Cowton was the man to beat in the Pre-1972 class on Saturday, but David Hebb and James Moralee came to the fore with a win each on Sunday with Cowton out of action.
Series leaders Steve Kershaw and Stuart Clark clinched pole for the fourth round of the Hyundai Construction Equipment British Sidecar Championship ahead of Todd Ellis/Chaz Richardson and Phil Bell/Stuart Ramsay.
And despite Gary Bryan and Phil Hyde leading the first racing lap of the weekend, Kershaw and Clark were soon past to take the opening win on their way to a clean sweep of Cadwell, boosting their points advantage over Ellis and Richardson, who bagged three runner-up finishes over the event.
Bryan and Hyde also nabbed a second-place finish as they, Gary Horsepole/James Connell and Phil Bell/Stuart Ramsey shared thirds before the Bell Racing duo were sent to hospital after being involved in an incident in race two while dicing for the lead.
Shelbourne Suzuki duo Gary and Daryl Gibson scooped up all four Open F2 class wins with a combined margin of over 110s, beating Ireson Honda men Chris Schofield and Derek Taylor in the first race by 26s.
The Gibson boys powered ahead of runners-up Michael Kirkup and Arlo Brown in the final three races, while Schofield/Taylor, Kirkup/Brown and Brian Alflatt/Aaron Gorman shared thirds.
Kevin Hunt and Alan Cracknell made their intentions known from the start of the Camathias Cup round, destroying the field with a 1:49.110 qualifying lap, which put them nearly six seconds ahead of Tony Thirkell and Trevor Johnson on the grid.
To no one’s surprise, the pole-sitting Patterson Imp duo shot off the line in race one and were never seen again, leading every lap on their way to a 14.218s win over Brian Gray and Jason Pitt, who crossed the line just over a second clear of Thirkell and Johnson’s MRE BMW.
Hunt once again nabbed the holeshot in race two, this time with passenger Waylen on board, but the two couldn’t quite manage as big a gap as their win on Saturday, and instead had to settle for a 3.824s win over Jon Perkins and Ian Nickels, with Thirkell and Johnson again third.
It looked like it could be a three-peat for Hunt after leading the first lap of the final Camathias Cup battle, but he and Waylen exited the race just a lap in, leaving MRE BMW men Perkins and Nickels to pick up victory, 15s clear of Insync Racing’s Ian Ashley and Roy Cunningham and nearly 30s ahead of Hendrik Jonker and Rebecca Sirrell’s Moto Guzzi-powered outfit.
*Click here for full results from Bemsee’s International Sidecar Revival at Cadwell Park
*Images: Neil Kirby
