First blood to Brown...
By TMX Archives on 26th Mar 08
HE first round of the Ian Durston Plant Services British Sidecar-cross Championship was held at Frome, Somerset, on Easter Monday. Noticeable absentees from the line-up were reigning champions John and Mark Watson, but with passenger Mark taking time out to have a much needed knee operation, the pair are not planning to contest the series this season.
In contrast, back from injury were Stuart Brown and Luke Peters. Stuart had been struggling with an old wrist injury but is now fighting fit. The pair battled hard all day, fighting through to take the overall win.
Andy Eastman and Steve Kirwin grabbed the early lead in the first moto with Scott Wilkinson and Gary Burt holding second ahead of Brown/ Peters.
The three leading teams stayed close with Brown trying to find a way through. Eastman caught a rut badly in the bottom of the quarry which let their rivals through, but the battle for the lead continued.
Disaster struck for Wilkinson and Burt on the final lap when the new design sidecar spindle let them down. The bolt undid itself and the sidecar wheel came adrift, and passing them going into the bend!
Brown went on to take a well-deserved win ahead of Eastman. Behind Paul Pelling and Tim Breacher held third just ahead of Andy Breacher and Adam Hillyard. The battle for fifth was very well contested with Michael Hodges and Colin Dunkley fighting through after a slow start, just holding off Mark and Gary Kinge.
John Lyne and Pete Girling lead race two into the first bend. The race was exciting right from the start and many of the crews found it difficult to get round the first bend and stay on the track. There was a melee and as the chaos cleared, Lyne was holding a good lead. Behind, Wilkinson held second ahead of Brown.
This time Wilkinson was determined to stay ahead, and though Brown managed to just get past on a couple of occasions, Wilkinson fought back.
Both teams closed up and eventually passed Lyne, so their battle was for the lead. Cheered on by an enthusiastic crowd, the scrapping outfits used every inch of the track and, where the tapes were down, they even borrowed' a few grassy corners to take any advantage possible.
The two outfits were so close, they touched on most corners, but the racing stayed friendly and at the flag, much to their delight, Wilkinson held on for the win, just ahead on Brown. Lyne finished third, nursing a rear wheel puncture. Pelling and Breacher claimed fourth with Jamie Stevens and Scott Grahame just behind in fifth. After fighting a great race long battle it was good to see the new pairing of Stickle Jarvis and Josh Chamberlain win through to take sixth.
IAN DURSTON PS BRITISH SIDECAR-CROSS CHAMPS
Rd 1 Asham Woods, Leighton (Frome & DUMC&LCC)
1 Stuart Brown/ Luke Peters (650 Husaberg VMC) 25 + 22 + 25 = 72
2 Paul Pelling/ Tim Breacher (660 Husqvarna VMC) 20 + 18 + 20 = 58
3 Andy Eastman/ Steve Kirwin (580 KTM VMC) 22 + 10 + 18 = 50
4 Scott Wilkinson/ Gary Burt (700 Zabel VMC) 0 + 25 + 22 = 47
5 Michael Hodges/ Colin Dunkley (KTM VMC) 16 + 12 + 13 = 41
6 Mark Kinge/ Gary Kinge (525 KTM VMC) 15 + 14 + 12 = 41
7 Dan & Joe Millard (650 Husaberg WSP) 14 + 11 + 15 = 40
8 Stickle Jarvis/ Josh Chamberlain (540 KTM VMC) 13 + 15 + 11 = 39
9 Jamie Stevens/ Scott Grahame (650 Husaberg VMC) 7 + 16 + 14 = 37
10 John Lyne/ Peter Girling (Zabel VMC) 12 + 20 + 0 = 32
11 Rob Topp/ Mike Geraghty (525 KTM EML) 11+0+16=27, 12 Tony Murch/ John Murch (525 KTM VMC) 10+7+10=27, 13 Mark Banks/ Geoff Wigglesworth (Zabel VMC) 5+13+9=27, 14 Stewart Lines/ Marc Cooper (Yamaha VMC) 6+9+8=23, 15 Andy Breacher/ Adam Hillyard (KTM VMC) 18+0+0=18, 16 Scott Balsillie/ Neal Bann (650 Husaberg WSP) 9+8+0=17, 17 Richard Jenkins/ Rob Eastman (700 Zabel VMC) 0+5+7=12, 18 Rob Oldfield/ Eric Maguire (500KTM VMC) 3+6+0=9, 19 Grant Peacock/ Steve Pickersgill (Zabel VMC) 1+2+5=8, 20 David Millard/ Stephen Connor (650 MTH BSU) 4+4+0=8, 21 Craig Parmenter/ Dan Chamberlain (Zabel VMC) 8+0+0=8, 22 Gary Patey/ Ady Sarfas (650 Husaberg VMC) 0+0+6=6, 23 Jamie Stevens/ Scott Grahame (650 Husaberg VMC) 0+0+4=4, 24 Steve Pannell/ Chris Pannell (525 KTM VMC) 0+0+3=3, 25 Nick Bowers/ Ben Millard (525 KTM VMC) 0+3+0=3, David Short/ Mark Nesbit (700 Zabel VMC) 2+1+0=3, Alan Sturt/ Chris Sturt (650 MTH VMC) 0+0+2=2, Ian Durston/ George Galliot (525 KTM VMC) 0+0+1=1.
RACE ONE: 1 Brown, 2 Eastman, 3 Pelling, 4 Breacher, 5 Hodges, 6 Kinge, 7 Dan Millard, 8 Jarvis, 9 Lyne, 10 Topp, 11 Murch, 12 Balsillie, 13 Parmenter, 14 Stevens, 15 Lines, 16 Banks, 17 David Millard, 18 Oldfield, 19 Short, 20 Peacock.
RACE TWO: 1 Wilkinson, 2 Brown, 3 Lyne, 4 Pelling, 5 Stevens, 6 Jarvis, 7 Kinge, 8 Banks, 9 Hodges, 10 Dan Millard, 11 Eastman, 12 Lines, 13 Balsillie, 14 Murch, 15 Oldfield, 16 Jenkins, 17 David Millard, 18 Bowers, 19 Peacock, 20 Short.
RACE THREE: 1 Brown, 2 Wilkinson, 3 Pelling, 4 Eastman, 5 Topp, 6 Dan Millard, 7 Stevens, 8 Hodges, 9 Kinge, 10 Jarvis, 11 Murch, 12 Banks, 13 Lines, 14 Jenkins, 15 Patey, 16 Peacock, 17 Stevens, 18 Pannell, 19 Sturt, 20 Durston.
SERIES STANDINGS after 1 (of 8) rounds: 1 Brown 72 points, 2 Pelling 58, 3 Eastman 50, 4 Wilkinson 47, 5 Hodges 41, 6 Kinge 41, 7 Dan Millard 40, 8 Jarvis 39, 9 Stevens 37, 10 Lyne 32, 11 Topp 27, 12 Banks 27, 13 Murch 27, 14 Lines 23, 15 Andy Breacher 18, 16 Balsillie 17, 17 Jenkins 12, 18 Oldfield 9, 19 Parmenter 8, 20 David Millard 8,
For full report and pictures see T+MX NEWS, Friday, March 28, 2008