Round 1 of the 2024 British Sidecarcross Championship at Iron Works Moto Park didn’t disappoint. Twenty-three teams were on the track in practice/qualifying.
Words by Heidi Foden – Images by Jeff Primmer and Julian Webb
Dan Foden set the fastest lap, followed by Brett Wilkinson, Jake Brown, Stuart Brown, George Kinge, Michael Hodges, Lee Foyle, Liam Mudie and Jack Etheridge covering the Top 10!
Race 1- The gate dropped for the first time in 2024 Stuart Brown & Lewis Gray took the holeshot, swiftly followed by Foden/Humphrey, Hodges/Henderson, Wilkinson/Millard, J Brown/ Chamberlain Etheridge/ Curnow and Mudie/Booth all close together!
As things started to unfold, Brown and Foden were close together, Wilkinson made his way to 3rd with Hodges & Brown close behind. Before long Wilkinson/ Millard made their way to p1, S Brown / Gray p2, Foden/Humphrey P3, Brown/Chamberlain p4, Hodges/Henderson p5, Kinge/Grahame p6, Foyle/Wilkinson p7, Grahame/Lloyd p8, Etheridge/Curnow p9 & Ozzie/Mackay p10. That’s the way it finished. There was some close, fast and intense racing for the 25min+2lap duration!
Anything could happen coming into Race 2.
Race 2 didn’t disappoint either. The gate dropped Foden took the holeshot, Kinge/Grahame p2, Brown/Gray p3, Hodges/Henderson p4, Wilkinson/Millard p5, Brown/Chamberlain p6, Mudie/Booth p7, Foyle/Wilkinson p8, Grahame/Lloyd p9 & Ozzie/Mackay p10.
Foden/Humphrey took a comfortable lead leaving a gap from Brown/Gray. After a few laps the gap closed and before we knew it, Foden/ Humphrey had Brown/Gray breathing down his neck with Wilkinson/Millard right behind! Brown/Chamberlain got their way through into p4, closely followed by Kinge/Grahame & Hodges/ Henderson. Once again Wilkinson/Millard made their way through to p1. Foden/Humphrey p2 until 2 laps to go when a mechanical issue struck leaving them stranded in the middle of the track. Hodges/Henderson also a minor issue with Henderson laid out in the middle of the track!
This left for Wilkinson/Millard out in front, Brown/Gray p2, Brown/Chamberlain p3, Kinge/Grahame p4, Foyle/Wilkinson p5, Mudie/Booth p6, Grahame/Lloyd p7, Etheridge/Curnow p8, Ozzie/Mackay p9 & Whitt/Stevenswood p10 to cross the line!
Therefore making overall podium Brett Wilkinson & Joe Millard taking 1st – Stuart Brown & Lewis Gray 2nd – Jake Brown & Josh Chamberlain 3rd.
Louis Murch and Freddie Keane both aged 13 competed in the first ACU Youth Sidecar class at the weekend. Run by the NETT alongside the 150/250 quads. The boys completed all 6 races over the weekend on their VMC 450 yamaha outfit.
With an exciting first round, full of action over and done with. This takes things onto Round 2 at Duns on Sunday 5th May!
Please keep your eyes out for the current Championship standings as we will release them soon!
Congratulations to all & Good luck to any injured parties.
Results
| Pos | Competitor | Points | R1 | R2 |
| 1 | Brett Wilkinson Joe Millard | 50 | 25 | 25 |
| 2 | Stuart Brown Lewis Grey | 44 | 22 | 22 |
| 3 | Jake Brown Nathan Cooper | 38 | 18 | 20 |
| 4 | George King Scott Graham | 33 | 15 | 18 |
| 5 | Lee Foyle Jack Wilkinson | 30 | 14 | 16 |
| 6 | Tony Graham Harley Lloyd | 27 | 13 | 14 |
| 7 | Liam Mudie Chris Booth | 25 | 10 | 15 |
| 8 | Jack Etheridge Michael Curnow | 25 | 12 | 13 |
| 9 | Sam Osbaldiston Thomas Mackay | 23 | 11 | 12 |
| 10 | Dan Foden Ryan Humphrey | 22 | 20 | 2 |
| 11 | Jack Rogers Ryan Beavis | 18 | 9 | 9 |
| 12 | Michael Hodges Ryan Henderson | 17 | 16 | 1 |
| 13 | Ashley Williams Adam McKibbin | 14 | 4 | 10 |
| 14 | Tony Murch John Murch | 14 | 8 | 6 |
| 15 | Taylor Whitt Blake Stevenswood | 11 | – | 11 |
| 16 | Jonathan Wilson Andrew Rowan | 11 | 3 | 8 |
| 17 | Ollie Peters Cameron Winfield | 11 | 6 | 5 |
| 18 | Leslie McCarthy Louise Wilson | 11 | 7 | 4 |
| 19 | Jack Scarr Jake Grahame | 8 | 1 | 7 |
| 20 | David Petty Jaime Greensill | 5 | 5 | – |
