Well, well, well, what a great bit of action it was at Round 2 of the 2025 Sidecarcross British Championship hosted at Iron Works, Middlesbrough!
Race Report by Heidi Foden – Images by Earths Eye Media
A great track, some fast sections meant we were going to see some close racing, the track seemed to have been prepared well. The sun was shining, the wind blowing, good conditions for Practice/Qualifying & 2x 25 minute + two lap races.
It started off wet in practice/Qualifying. We saw qualifying to be: Wilkinson/Millard, Brown/Grahame, Kinge/Kinge, Hodges/Henderson, Campbell/Horton, Mudie/Grahame, Ozzie/Mackay, Rogers/Beavis, Mudie/Mudie, Williams/Watson. The Top 5 were within 3 seconds of each other.
Heading into race 1, the 19 teams lined up on the gate. We saw the new pairing of Neil Campbell/ Paul Horton take the hole shot! Closely followed by Kinge/Kinge, Mudie/Grahame, Wilkinson/Millard, Brown/Grahame, Hodges/Henderson, Rogers/Beavis, Ozzie/Mackay & Mudie/Mudie.
It didn’t take long before the action started. Kinge/Kinge headed into 1st, Wilkinson/Millard passed Mudie/Grahame for 2nd place. Followed by Brown/Grahame & Hodges/Henderson, seeming to form a group at the front.
Before long, we saw reigning British championship winners Wilkinson/Millard take the no.1 spot, followed by Kinge/Kinge, Brown/Grahame, Hodges/Henderson, and Campbell/Horton. Mudie/Grahame dropped off the pack and had some breathing room from Rogers/Beavis, followed by Ozzie/Mackay, Mudie/Mudie, Wilson/Rowan.
We saw Brown/Grahame do a nice pass on Kinge/Kinge. But unfortunately for Team Kinge, we then saw Hodges/Henderson come past too!
By 20 minutes in the final positions formed. We soon saw the winners take the chequered flag. 1st- Wilkinson/Millard in a comfortable lead, 2nd- Brown/Grahame, 3rd- Hodges/Henderson, 4th- Kinge/Kinge, 5th Campbell/Horton, 6th- Mudie/Grahame, 7th- Rogers/Beavis, 8th-Ozzie/Mackay, 9th- Mudie/Mudie & 10th- Wilson/Rowan.
Race 2: 15 riders lined up on the start line. The gate dropped, and we saw George Kinge/Jim Kinge take the holeshot! Swiftly followed by Campbell/Horton, Hodges/Henderson, Brown/Grahame, Wilkinson/Millard, Ozzie/Mackay, Mudie/Grahame, Rogers/Beavis, Mudie/Mudie, Peters/Kirwin! The race was on. Brown/Grahame didn’t hesitate to get past Hodges/Henderson almost immediately, which left Wilkinson/Millard breathing down Hodges’ neck. Kinge/Kinge took a 2-second gap from second place of Campbell/Horton, who most definitely felt the pressure of Brown/Grahame. Brown/Grahame passed Campbell/Horton for 2nd place with Wilkinson/Millard not making their way past Hodges/Henderson yet! However, it wasn’t long before Wilkinson/Millard took both Hodges/Henderson & Campbell/Horton, leaving Wilkinson to hunt down Brown/Grahame, while Brown/ Grahame got to business, overtaking Kinge/Kinge to take the lead! Once Wilkinson passed Team Kinge, the race was in full force. We saw Brown/Grahame in first place, with Wilkinson/Millard chasing them closely, Kinge/Kinge had Hodges/Henderson chasing them down, and Campbell/Horton were soon to follow.
A small gap later, we saw Mudie/Grahame, Ozzie/Mackay, Rogers/Beavis, Williams/Watson & Mudie/Mudie. Things got intense at the front of the race. Brown/Grahame inevitably felt the pressure from Wilkinson/Millard, who were trying to take the lead. The crowd ran back and forth to follow the race. Both teams stumbled upon back markers, but they continued to make their way around. 25 minutes in, with only two laps to go, the pressure was on for Brown/Grahame.
Wilkinson/Millard trying to swap lines to find a gap, Brown/Grahame defending their position, the crowd cheering….. +35 seconds was Hodges/Henderson seconds, +5 seconds Kinge/Kinge, +1 second Campbell/Horton. The question was who was going to take the chequered flag first. The crowd watched nervously as Brown/Grahame continued to take each corner with Wilkinson/Millard on their back wheel. But it wasn’t enough for Wilkinson/Millard; they couldn’t quite get past. The chequered flag came out and Brown/Grahame took the finish line, +0.2 seconds ahead of Wilkinson/Millard! Hodges/Henderson sailed across, Kinge/Kinge, Campbell/Horton, Mudie/Grahame, Ozzie, Mackay, Rogers/Beavis, Williams/Watson & Mudie/Mudie taking top 10.
Both races had some close and spectacular racing throughout the pack. It’s great to see new teams forming and results coming together.
Results
Race 1
| Pos | Competitor | Diff | Laps | Best Lap |
| 1 | Brett Wilkinson Joe Millard | 0.000 | 12 | 2:15.827 |
| 2 | Stuart Brown Lewis Grey | 16.225 | 12 | 2:17.059 |
| 3 | Michael Hodges Ryan Henderson | 30.460 | 12 | 2:18.495 |
| 4 | George Kinge Jim Kinge | 47.224 | 12 | 2:18.178 |
| 5 | Neil Campbell Paul Horton | 56.004 | 12 | 2:20.359 |
| 6 | Liam Mudie Chris Booth | 1:25.579 | 12 | 2:22.537 |
| 7 | Jack Rogers Ryan Beavis | 1:34.588 | 12 | 2:21.270 |
| 8 | Sam Osbaldiston Thomas Mackay | 1:48.883 | 12 | 2:24.313 |
| 9 | Stephen Mudie Harley Mudie | 2:19.212 | 12 | 2:25.856 |
| 10 | Jonathan Wilson Andrew Rowan | 1 lap | 11 | 2:29.338 |
| 11 | Paul Pelling John Murch | 1 lap | 11 | 2:30.552 |
| 12 | Olly Peters Reece Kirwin | 1 lap | 11 | 2:30.400 |
| 13 | Luke Banks Jon Hunt | 1 lap | 11 | 2:30.559 |
| 14 | Ashllie Wiilliams Jak Watson | 1 lap | 11 | 2:24.433 |
| 15 | Tony Green Jason Green | 1 lap | 11 | 2:35.754 |
| 16 | Leslie McCarthy Louise Wilson | 2 laps | 10 | 2:36.779 |
| 17 | Mike Minns Mark Nicholson | 2 laps | 10 | 2:39.275 |
| 18 | Graham Ballentine Helena Ballantine | 2 laps | 10 | 2:40.734 |
| DNF | Andrew McKibbin Adam McKibbin | 0.000 | 3 | 2:26.352 |
Race 2
| Pos | Competitor | Diff | Laps | Best Lap |
| 1 | Stuart Brown Lewis Grey | 0.000 | 12 | 2:16.720 |
| 2 | Brett Wilkinson Joe Millard | 0.210 | 12 | 2:17.084 |
| 3 | Michael Hodges Ryan Henderson | 35.271 | 12 | 2:20.088 |
| 4 | George Kinge Jim Kinge | 40.035 | 12 | 2:20.758 |
| 5 | Neil Campbell Paul Horton | 41.127 | 12 | 2:20.829 |
| 6 | Liam Mudie Chris Booth | 1:32.955 | 12 | 2:21.242 |
| 7 | Sam Osbaldiston Thomas Mackay | 1:42.915 | 12 | 2:24.498 |
| 8 | Jack Rogers Ryan Beavis | 2:00.345 | 12 | 2:24.909 |
| 9 | Ashllie Wiilliams Jak Watson | 1 lap | 11 | 2:27.070 |
| 10 | Stephen Mudie Harley Mudie | 1 lap | 11 | 2:26.815 |
| 11 | Luke Banks Jon Hunt | 1 lap | 11 | 2:30.591 |
| 12 | Olly Peters Reece Kirwin | 1 lap | 11 | 2:32.637 |
| 13 | Paul Pelling John Murch | 1 lap | 11 | 2:35.040 |
| 14 | Tony Green Jason Green | 2 laps | 10 | 2:38.548 |
| 15 | Mike Minns Mark Nicholson | 2 laps | 10 | 2:43.204 |
Overall
| Pos | Competitor | Total Points | r 1 | r 2 |
| 1 | Stuart Brown Lewis Grey | 47 | 22 | 25 |
| 2 | Brett Wilkinson Joe Millard | 47 | 25 | 22 |
| 3 | Michael Hodges Ryan Henderson | 40 | 20 | 20 |
| 4 | George Kinge Jim Kinge | 36 | 18 | 18 |
| 5 | Neil Campbell Paul Horton | 32 | 16 | 16 |
| 6 | Liam Mudie Chris Booth | 30 | 15 | 15 |
| 7 | Sam Osbaldiston Thomas Mackay | 27 | 13 | 14 |
| 8 | Jack Rogers Ryan Beavis | 27 | 14 | 13 |
| 9 | Stephen Mudie Harley Mudie | 23 | 12 | 11 |
| 10 | Ashllie Wiilliams Jak Watson | 19 | 7 | 12 |
| 11 | Luke Banks Jon Hunt | 18 | 8 | 10 |
| 12 | Olly Peters Reece Kirwin | 18 | 9 | 9 |
| 13 | Paul Pelling John Murch | 18 | 10 | 8 |
| 14 | Tony Green Jason Green | 13 | 6 | 7 |
| 15 | Jonathan Wilson Andrew Rowan | 11 | 11 | – |
| 16 | Mike Minns Mark Nicholson | 10 | 4 | 6 |
| 17 | Leslie McCarthy Louise Wilson | 5 | 5 | – |
| 18 | Graham Ballentine Helena Ballantine | 3 | 3 | – |
| 19 | Andrew McKibbin Adam McKibbin | 2 | 2 | – |
Expert Overall
| Pos | Competitor | Total Points | r 1 | r 2 |
| 1 | Stephen Mudie Harley Mudie | 50 | 25 | 25 |
| 2 | Luke Banks Jon Hunt | 40 | 18 | 22 |
| 3 | Olly Peters Reece Kirwin | 40 | 20 | 20 |
| 4 | Paul Pelling John Murch | 40 | 22 | 18 |
| 5 | Tony Green Jason Green | 32 | 16 | 16 |
| 6 | Graham Ballentine Helena Ballantine | 15 | 15 | – |
