Simon and Simon get lost in France
By TMX Archives on 20th Sep 07
GOING into the Sunday's sixth round of the AMCA Sidecar-cross Championship, hosted by Midland Social MCC at Monkspath, the two Simons - Bradford and Morgan - had regained the series lead, by three-points, following the round at Cleobury Mortimer, but as the saying goes ''It ain't over till the fat lady sings!''
Bradford and Morgan led the opening moto fromstart to finish, and they were followed over the finish line by StevenFrance and Martin Taylor. Andy Grahame and Neil Friary were third aheadof Alan Peever/ Tony Phillips with Mark Banks/ Mike Geraghty in fifthplace. David Petty and Lee Machin stalled on the start-line, restartedlast, but eventually finished in eighth spot.
The first attempt to run race two was red-flaggedat the end of the opening lap following a crash involving Alan and TonyGraham at the end of the start straight.
On the re-start Bradford and Morgan led for the first five laps.
Disaster struck for Bradford and Morgan on lapseven when the engine seized. This left the way for Andy Grahame/ NeilFriary to take the chequered flag, followed by France/ Taylor, Peever/Phillips, Petty/ Machin with Banks/ Geraghty taking fifth place.
Having held third place for the initial few laps,the centenary' team of Billy Bradford and Jeff James suffered a tumbleon the third lap. However, they got back on the bike and eventuallypicked up two-points for 19th place.
A number of outfits hit trouble at the end of thestart straight in race three. Having had a third place in the firstrace and winning the second race, Andy Grahame and Neil Friary foundthemselves in 18th place at the end of the first circuit. however, thepair fought their way through to finish in seventh place.
France and Taylor led for the first two laps, butby lap three Bradford and Morgan were back on the pace. The twoSimons' took the lead and finished there, followed by France/ Taylor,Peever/ Phillips, Banks/ Geraghty and John and Scott Grahame in fifthplace.
As a result of Bradford's problems in race two,France and Taylor now lead the championship chase with a ten-pointadvantage over Bradford/ Morgan. What can happen next?
AMCA SIDECAR-CROSS SERIES
Rd 6 - Monkspath (Midland Social MCC)
1 Steven France/ Martin Taylor (EML) 22 + 22 + 22 = 66
2 Andy Grahame/ Neil Friary (EML) 20 + 25 + 14 = 59
3 Alan Peever/ Tony Phillips (KTM) 18 + 20 + 20 = 58
4 Simon Bradford/ Simon Morgan(H'berg) 25 + 3+ 25 = 53
5 Mark Banks/ Michael Geraghty (VMC) 16 + 16 + 18 = 50
6 Glen & Grahame Howard (BSU) 14 + 15 + 12 = 41
7 Ron France/ Stewart France (EML) 10 + 13 + 15 = 38
8 Keith Helliwell/ Simon Dadson (KTM) 11 + 12 + 13 = 36
9 David Petty/ Lee Machin (KTM) 13 + 18 + 0 = 31
10 John & Scott Grahame (EML) 0 + 14 +16 = 30
11 Bill Bradford/ Jeff James (Suzuki) 15+2+11=28,12 Steve Bann/ Neale Bann (VOR) 8+11+8=27, 13 Stephen Evans/ DarrenBishop (Husaberg) 9+9+5=23, 14 Alan Grahame/ Dean Evans (EML)12+0+10=22, 15 Andrew & David Nourish (Zabel BSU) 6+7+9=22, 16 RossBowers/ Dan Phelps (Husaberg) 4+5+7=16, 17 Colin Griffiths/ MartinBrown (VMC) 2+10+3=15, 18 Gareth Rowlands/ Neil James (KTM) 0+8+6=14,19 Edward & Kristian Turner (KHR) 3+6+4=13, 20 Neil Warrington/Chris Whatmore (WJM) 5+4+2=11, 21 Matthew Taylor/ Mikey Evans (KTM)7+1+0=8, 22 Thomas Mann/ Neil Burke (BSU) 1+0+0=1.
RACE ONE: 1 Simon Bradford, 2 Steven France, 3Andy Grahame, 4 Peever, 5 Banks, 6 Bill Bradford, 7 Howard, 8 Petty, 9Alan Grahame, 10 Helliwell, 11 Ron France, 12 Evans, 13 Bann, 14Taylor, 15 Nourish, 16 Warrington, 17 Bowers, 18 Turner, 19 Griffiths,20 Mann.
RACE TWO: 1 Andy Grahame, 2 Steven France, 3Peever, 4 Petty, 5 Banks, 6 Howard, 7 John Grahame, 8 Ron France, 9Helliwell, 10 Bann, 11 Griffiths, 12 Evans, 13 Rowlands, 14 Nourish, 15Turner, 16 Bowers, 17 Warrington, 18 Simon Bradford, 19 Bill Bradford,20 Taylor.
RACE THREE: 1 Simon Bradford, 2 Steven France, 3Peever, 4 Banks, 5 John Grahame, 6 Ron France, 7 Andy Grahame, 8Helliwell, 9 Howard, 10 Bill Bradford, 11 Alan Grahame, 12 Nourish, 13Bann, 14 Bowers, 15 Rowlands, 16 Evans, 17 Turner, 18 Griffiths, 19Warrington.
SERIES STANDINGS after 6 (of 8) rounds: 1 SFrance/ M Taylor 369 points, 2 S Bradford/ S Morgan 359, 3 A Grahame/ NFriary 284, 4 D Petty/ L Machin 279, 5 B Bradford/ J James 270, 6 AGrahame/ D Evans 241, 7 K Helliwell/ S Dadson 222, 8 A Peever/ TPhillips 212, 9 J & S Grahame 194, 10 M Banks/ M Geraghty 191, 11 G& G Howard 179, 12 S Evans/ D Bishop 175, 13 G Rowlands/ N James168, 14 S & N Bann 131, 15 C Griffiths/ M Brown 131,..
NEXT ROUND: Oct 7 - Bromsberrow (Upton Motorsports Club).