Golden Brown
By Team TMX on 9th Oct 15
Stuart Brown and Josh Chamberlain were crowned Maxxis British Sidecarcross champions after another dominant performance at the final round of the Maxxis British Sidecarcross Championship at Canada Heights
Two wins out of three on the day gave them a comfortable 51-point advantage at the end of an entertaining series.
Track layout had been changed since the sidecars raced here last year and ran the opposite way round.
The deep sandy Kent course is tough for sidecars and Sunday was no exception as the track really sorted the men from the boys, especially as the ruts just got deeper and deeper.
Race one started with a holeshot for the Irish crew of Neil Campbell and Ross Graham but Brett Wilkinson and Steve Kirwin were well on the pace and passed on lap one to take lead.
Daniel and Joe Millard tucked in behind with Brown/ Chamberlain holding third.
Brown was keen to finish the season on a high and fought through to take second.
By that stage, though, Wilkinson had a good lead and despite the champions-elect closing the gap Wilkinson held on for a first championship win of the season.
Brown came home a close second ahead of the Millard boys.
Behind the leading trio Nick Jarvis and Dan Chamberlain held a safe fourth ahead of a real battle, as Jack Etheridge/ Scott Grahame passed Campbell/ Graham with Simon Bradford/ Luke Peters breathing down their necks.
Millard blasted into bend one at the head of the pack in race two, followed by Wilkinson, Jarvis and Brown.
Wilkinson soon took over at the front and looked well set for a second win.
Brown wasn't giving up though and battled through into second and the fight was on.
Wilkinson held an eight-second advantage but took avoiding action to negotiate back-markers and dropped into a deep rut which stopped the leaders in their tracks.
Brown took full advantage and blasted in front while Jarvis passed Millard and tucked into second.
Wilkinson got going in fourth and fought to pass Millard to take third at the flag – but Wilkinson and his passenger were clearly disappointed not to take another win.
Etheridge claimed a good fifth with Bradford close behind.
The win gave Brown and Chamberlain the title advantage and they went into the last race free to express themselves.
In the final championship race of the season Wilkinson blasted into the first bend together with Brown, who soon took charge and within a few bends established a significant lead.
Jarvis held third ahead of Etheridge with Millard in tow.
The battle for fifth hotted up this race with Campbell fighting to stay ahead of Dave Keane/ Paul Horton, with Bradford on their tail.
At the halfway point disaster struck for Jarvis as passenger Dan had a wardrobe malfunction and a rip in his pants got caught and attached him to the bike.
When he couldn't lean out to maintain stability, the bike flipped in the soft sand, costing them a few places and letting Daniel and Joe Millard through into third.
Etheridge held fourth while Jarvis recovered well to take fifth ahead of Keane.
Stuart Brown and Josh Chamberlain celebrated a fifth British championship crown on the bounce, while Stuart notched his 13th ACU Sidecar Championship victory – a fantastic achievement.
Behind the champions, Wilkinson and Kirwin took a brilliant second place ahead of the Bradford/ Peters pairing.
Jarvis and Chamberlain enjoyed a strong finish to the season to secure fourth.
