Sidecar Speedway once again returns to Brandon Stadium in Coventry this Friday for what promises to be yet another showcase of fairing bashing, all-out action packed racing. The ‘Coventry Cracker’ has once again attracted plenty of interest from some the country’s best sidecar crews. This will be the second trip for the sidecars to Brandon this season, after the hugely successful Sidecar Shoot Out meeting in August.
At that event, it was
Mark Cossar and stand-in passenger
Liam Brown who triumphed, going through the card unbeaten. This time around, Cossar is teamed up with regular passenger
Carl Blyth and will once again look for a perfect performance. Due to his successful trips Down Under, where sidecar speedway is hugely popular and racing is more frequent, Cossar has shown himself to be one of the best sidecar speedway riders in the world. Plans are in place to once again race in Australia for the Oceana Championships next year, so he will want to make use of this rare UK appearance on the shale.
Another strong performer in August was
Paul Whitelam and
Kizz Ivy. They put in some great heat wins and may have finished higher in the final if they hadn’t lifted at the start.
And sidecar speedway living legend
Paul Pinfold teams up with Dutch lady passenger Sandra Mollema to compete once again on his unique outfit. He rode well last time in Coventry, leading the semi final for two laps.
British Masters competitors
Robbie Wilson and
Bradley Fish Steer rode well at Brandon also, and will once again be strong contenders aboard their ex-Darrin Treloar machine.
Two riders who did not appear in August are sure to cause a stir;
Matthew Fumarola/
Gareth Williams and
Tris Winterburn/Henry
Purcell. Fumarola was heavily involved in racing during the 2001-2003 golden years of sidecar speedway, competing in the Super Cup (and winning a meeting that some may remember!). Winterburn has mainly raced on the speedway throughout his driving career and has shown that he is a real force to be reckoned with. Several strong performances at Peterborough last year saw him qualifying for finals. These two crews are sure to get amongst the top boys.
A final word should be spared for
Tom Cossar. He put in some good performances at Coventry last time out and will look to build on this. He will be passengered by experienced crewman
Wayne Rickards, which is sure to help the popular Rugby rider.
The successful system of reserve races once again is included, with four outfits this time competing in the reserve class. These crews will be called upon should some of the main lineup drop out.
Also, the 500cc sidecars return to the race card, after some titanic battles earlier in August. This time, six outfits compete in the event.
Mitchel Godden, who has had a great first year on sidecars, heads the lineup and looks to continue the good form that saw him finish an excellent third in this year’s inaugural Super Series. In August, several clashes between Scott Dunn/
Scott Goodwin and
David Carvill/
Kai Noble had the crowd on the edge of their seats. Both crews will be out for revenge this time out.
The event will hope to draw yet another excellent crowd to Brandon Stadium for a hotly contested Friday night of racing. Racing begins at 7pm with practice taking place beforehand. Once again, the price is just £10 per person-the best £10 you’re likely to spend this month!