Brown and Peters are just gr-eight
By TMX Archives on 23rd Sep 10
This week the Maxxis British Sidecar-cross Championship moved to round five at Wattisfield Hall, Diss, near Norwich, for another great day's racing.
With double points on offer, this meant even though the reining champions Stuart Brown and Luke Peters started the day with an 80-point advantage, there were a possible maximum of 150-points available, and still four possible British Championship winning teams.
The scene was set for an exciting day.
Brown and Peters went on to hole-shot and win all three motos, to secure the championship title for an eighth time.
The first race started with an early lead for Brown, with Andy and Tim Breacher tucked in close behind, and Scott son and Dave Keane third.
Dan and Joe Millard had problems starting their bike and were unfortunately one of the last crews to leave the start-line, giving them plenty of work to catch the leading teams.
Brown built up a healthy lead early in the race, holding the advantage throughout, and going on to take their first win of the day.
The Breachers maintained a safe second just ahead of Wilkinson, with Dean Hyde and Steve Kirwin on a charge and holding fourth.
The Milliards fought through from the back, and despite the kill switch being struck by a stone and stopping the bike momentarily, they eventually claimed a well-deserved fifth-place finish.
Jack Etheridge and Ryan Humphrey emerged on top of a very close battle to nab sixth spot, just ahead of Alf Hyde and Craig Parmenter.
At the start of race two, Brown and Peters needed just ten-points to secure the championship title, but they left nothing to change, firing into bend one in the lead with Wilkinson second ahead of Hyde.
Brown blasted away to another safe win, with the Millard brothers fighting through from fourth to take second. Although they had Brown in their sights in the closing laps, they weren't close enough to make a play for the lead.
Wilkinson took third ahead of Hyde, with the Breachers having another steady ride in fifth.
There was a big gap before the next team of Hyde and Parmenter, who did well to take sixth and stay ahead of some close battles going on behind them.
The final race of the day saw Brown and Peters finish the season in style as they blasted into the lead closely followed by Breacher. Wilkinson held third, battling to stay ahead of Millard.
With the championship in the bag Brown and Peters had a steady ride taking their third safe victory of the day.
Wilkinson and Keane held second in the championship going into the race, with a 15-point advantage, but the Millard boys fought hard to gain an advantage, blasting through to take second closing the gap on the leaders. At the flag they took another good second place.
The Breachers battled for the whole race to stay ahead of Hyde who was again on the pace, but all eyes were on Wilkinson and Keane.
They couldn't finish lower than sixth place or they would lose their second spot in the championship, but they obviously had problems and were slowing, dropping back to fifth with Etheridge closing.
Everyone round the track was trying to calculate the points, working out what the impact would be, but with just one-point to spare, a sixth place finish was enough for Wilkinson and Keane to hold their second place in the points table, with the Millards retaining the number three plate for next season.
This season it was great to see so many younger new teams joining the battles, watch out for them next year, as they become more experienced and give this season's winners a run for their money.
That concluded another championship season, with the passenger swaps already in full swing.
Watch out for all the latest gossip!
MAXXIS BRITISH SIDECAR-CROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 7 (Final) – Wattisfield Hall, Diss, Norfolk (Diss & DMCC)
1 Stuart Brown/ Luke Peters (Husa VMC) 50 + 50 + 50 = 150
2 Dan Millard/ Joe Millard (WHT Husa) 32 + 44 + 44 = 120
3 Andy Breacher/ Tim Breacher (KTM VMC) 44 + 32 + 40 = 116
4 Scott Wilkinson/ David Keane (Zab VMC) 40 + 40 + 30 = 110
5 Dean Hyde/ Steve Kirwin (KTM VMC) 36 + 36 + 36 = 108
6 Jack Etheridge/ Ryan Humphrey (Husa WSP) 30 + 26 + 32 = 88
7 Alfie Hyde/ Craig Parmenter (Yam VMC) 28 + 30 + 28 = 86
8 Steve France/ Marc Cooper (HusaVMC) 26 + 28 + 22 = 76
9 Neil Franks/ Michael Franks (KTM VMC) 24 + 20 + 24 = 68
10 Paul Pelling/ Stewart France (Husq VMC) 22 + 16 + 26 = 64
11 Rob Oldfield/ Gary Kinge (KTM VMC) 18+24+20=62, 12 Ross Bowers/ Dan Phelps (KTM VMC) 20+22+18=60, 13 Stephen Parr/ Jonnie Waters (Yamaha VMC) 16+18+16=50, 14 Steve Pannell/ Chris Pannell (KTM VMC) 14+6+14=34, 15 Ben Blyth/ Doug Woods (Husaberg WSP) 12+10+10=32, 16 Jon Rutherford/ Elliott Browne (KTM VMC) 8+14+8=30, 17 Mark Banks/ Darren Bishop (Zabel VMC) 0+12+12=24, 18 Alan Sturt/ Chris Sturt (KHR MTH) 4+8+6=18, 19 Carl Kirwin/ Eric Maguire (Husqvarna VMC) 6+4+4=14, 20 Adam Field/ Paul Hutchman (MTH VMC) 10+0+0=10.
RACE ONE: 1 Brown, 2 Breacher, 3 Scott Wilkinson, 4 Dean Hyde, 5 Dan Millard, 6 Etheridge, 7 Alfie Hyde, 8 France, 9 Franks, 10 Pelling, 11 Ross Bowers, 12 Oldfield, 13 Parr, 14 Pannell, 15 Blyth, 16 Field, 17 Jon Rutherford, 18 Kirwin, 19 Sturt.
RACE TWO: 1 Brown, 2 Millard, 3 Wilkinson, 4 Dean Hyde, 5 Breacher, 6 Alfie Hyde, 7 France, 8 Etheridge, 9 Oldfield, 10 Ross Bowers, 11 Franks, 12 Parr, 13 Pelling, 14 Jon Rutherford, 15 Banks, 16 Ben Blyth, 17 Sturt, 18 Pannell, 19 Kirwin.
RACE THREE: 1 Brown, 2 Millard, 3 Breacher, 4 Dean Hyde, 5 Etheridge, 6 Scott Wilkinson, 7 Alfie Hyde, 8 Pelling, 9 Franks, 10 France, 11 Oldfield, 12 Ross Bowers, 13 Parr, 14 Pannell, 15 Banks, 16 Ben Blyth, 17 Jon Rutherford, 18 Sturt, 19 Kirwin.
FINAL SERIES STANDINGS after 7 rounds: 1 Stuart Brown/ Luke Peters 562 points (CHAMPIONS), 2 Scott Wilkinson/ David Keane 442, 3 Dan Millard/ Joe Millard 441, 4 Breacher 386, 5 France 324, 6 Oldfield 266, 7 Alfie Hyde 255, 8 Pelling 250, 9 Ross Bowers 210, 10 Brett Wilkinson 198, 11 Jenkins 196, 12 Etheridge 162, 13 Dean Hyde 159, 14 Nick Bowers 135, 15 Jon Rutherford 111, 16 Franks 103, 17 Chamberlain 94, 18 Pannell 89, 19 Topp 83, 20 Blyth 83