Tuesday July 31, 2018 at 3:00pm
After a lengthy break the fourth round of the ACU/FSRA British F2 sidecar championship took place over the weekend of the 28th/29th July at the British version of Philip Island, namely Ty Croes Anglesey on the picturesque coastal circuit. The meeting was to be delayed for several hours due to high winds and with reports of the bridge being closed until Monday morning and also heavy rain forecast for Sunday, some teams decided that due to pending holidays didn’t want to take the chance of being stuck on the Island, so the start of practice would see a depleted grid. The free practice session got underway at 1500 on Saturday afternoon. The track was dry although blustery in places. An hour later the heavens opened, and a good downpour ensued. This would make qualifying interesting on what tyre choice to make with only an hour before qualifying would commence. So a few minutes before 1700 there were seventeen teams that set off for qualifying and with the track drying rapidly in places but wet in others it would be the teams on full slicks that would set the fastest times. On board the ARC sponsored LCR Suzuki Lee Crawford/Scott Hardie set the early pace and were never headed as they consistently improved their qualifying time and on their tenth and final qualifying lap set pole with a time of 1:15.205 and joining them on the front row of the grid after their best ever qualifying on his new DMR chassis with Suzuki power Mike Jackson with stand in passenger for the meeting Tom Christie just a tenth off pole 1:15.309. Whichever tyre choice these two teams decided paid off because they were over a second quicker than third placed Printer Roller Services sponsored Honda Bellas of Conrad Harrison/Andy Winkle who in turn were three tenths ahead of Hegarty Racings Hegarty/Neave on their Baker Honda. The third row of the grid and a specialist around the coastal circuit Team Ramsden racing Steve and Matty on their LCR Honda and joint leaders in the F2 Cup on their Shelbourne Suzuki Daryl Gibson/Ashley Moore. In seventh place and on the fourth row of the grid Rowtec/Trustlands sponsored Suzuki DDM championship leaders Pete Founds/Jevan Walmsley and alongside Team Founds John Shipley and Jonathan Saidi on their LCR Suzuki. Rounding off the top ten Richard Lumley Ray Whitnell Lumley Kawasaki and joint leaders in the F2 Cup Ralph Remnant Samantha Tilley also on a Lumley Kawasaki. The Wirral 100 club had already arranged for an extension on the days racing to extend beyond 1800 should the weather and light hold. The rain held off and sixteen teams lined up for race one to be held over a reduced distance of twelve laps, one team absent from qualifying Paul Riley Andrew Haynes due to a fault on their MRE they could not cure in time for the start of the race. Crawford/Hardie lead the pack in to the first left hander which would see Hegarty/Neave push Founds/Walmsley wide and the latter would also get mixed up with Lumley/Whitnell and relegate them to eighth place along the coastal part of the circuit. The Ramsdens had worked their way up to second position by the end of lap one and were just 1.188s behind the pole setters. Jackson/Christie had dropped back to fourth and Hegarty Neave in fifth. Founds/Walmsley had regained their qualifying position of seventh and set about chasing the leading F2 Cup runners Gibson/Moore who were occupying sixth postion. The next six teams were covered by just two seconds, so places were sure to change throughout the next eleven laps. After the end of lap two Shipley/Saidi had moved up to twelfth overall and fifth in class and up to fourteenth Dave Schofield and Wes Pettman. The leaders Crawford Hardie set the quickest lap of the weekend so far 1:14.318 and were now 1.665s ahead of the Ramsdens and the rest of the positions remained unchanged. By the end of lap three Founds/Walmsley had overtaken Gibson/Moore to relegate them to seventh, although they had a healthy nine second advantage over Lumley/Whitnell who were second in the F2 cup class. With another fast lap set by Crawford/Hardie 1:14.310 they had now extended their lead to 2.192s over the Ramsdens. In the F2 Cup Shipley/Saidi had overtaken Remnant/Tilley and moved up to third in class and were just 0.377s behind Lumley/Whitnell. Founds/Walmsley had caught and passed Hegarty/Neave by the end of lap five and then set about reducing the two second deficit to Jackson Christie. At half race distance Shipley/Saidi had slotted in to second place in the Cup at the expense of Lumley/Whitnell. At the end of lap eight Team Ramsden set the fastest lap of the race 1:14.257s in chasing down Crawford/Hardie thus reducing their lead to just 1.036s and just under two seconds back in third Harrison/Winkle. Founds/Walmsley had moved in to fourth and all the top four teams were now recording times in the 1:14s. After encountering back markers by the end of lap nine the gap between the front two was just 0.349s and Remnant Tilley moved ahead of Lumley/Whitnell to go third in class. There was drama for Team ARC just before the start of the penultimate lap as Hardie exited the outfit at the corkscrew and would unfortunately add to their tally of non-finishes. Taking the chequered flag for the first time this season and setting the fastest lap father and son Steve and Matty Ramsden with just a second lead over Harrison/Winkle who in turn were also a second in front of third placed Founds/Walmsley. With Ramsdens setting a time of 1:14.2 there was just a one tenth difference over five teams, Crawford/Hardie 1:14.3, Founds/Walmsley 1:14.4, Harrison/Winkle 1:14.5 and Jackson/Christie 1:14.6 so all the teams were a match for each other, it’s just a case of putting it all together consistently and not making any mistakes. Super F2 Ramsden/Ramsden Harrison/Winkle Founds/Walmsley Jackson/Christie Hegarty/Neave Gibson/Moore (F2 Cup) F2 Cup Gibson/Moore Shipley/Saidi Remnant/Tilley Lumley/Whitnell Schofield C/Taylor Schofield D/Pettman The grid for the start of race two would see Gibson/Moore on pole with Hegarty/Neave joining them on the front row as the top six in race one are reversed. The start of race two over sixteen laps would once again see sixteen teams with Millington/Deeley from race one not taking part in what were surprisingly dry conditions after the constant rain overnight and in to mid-morning. As the teams lined up for the lights to go out Harrison/Winkle were awarded a ten second penalty for a jump start and after lap one were registered in fifteenth place. There were many changes from the starting grid with Hegarty/Neave leading the way by 0.574s ahead of Founds/Walmsley, Jackson/Christie held station in third, the Ramsdens had moved up to fourth and remarkably in fifth after starting on row eight Crawford/Hardie. After the end of lap two in which Hegarty/Neave lead the chasing pack then next three laps would see the lead change hands. At the end of lap three Founds/Walmsley would lead Jackson/Christie thus usurping Hegarty/Neave back to third and lap four would see Jackson/Christie lead Founds/Walmsley with the Ramsdens heading Hegarty/Neave. By the end of lap five the lead changed again with Founds/Walmsley leading Jackson/Christie by 0.469s and just a second further back the Ramsdens after they set the fastest lap so far 1:14.275. in the F2 Cup Gibson/Moore had just under a two second lead over Shipley/Saidi and there was also a battle for third between Lumley/Whitnell and Remnant/Tilley with the gap between these team’s just 0.721s. By the end of lap six Remnant/Tilley had overtaken Lumley/Whitnell to go third in class. By the end of lap seven Founds/Walmsley had opened up a 1.775s gap to Ramsden/Ramsden and Crawford/Hardie both team’s recording 1:14s laps and with Jackson/Christie losing a couple of seconds on previous lap times now found themselves in fourth. With nine laps completed Founds/Walmsley held a two second advantage recording the fastest lap to date 1:14.154s over Ramsden/Ramsden with Crawford/Hardie 0.672s in arrears in third. The pairing of Founds/Walmsley were now bordering on going sub 1:14 after setting a time of 1:14.089 and this pushed their lead to nearly three seconds but Ramsden/Ramsden were haveing none of it and recorded a time of 1:13.932 on lap eleven to reduce the gap to 2.24s. They then pulled another half a second on lap twelve and the gap 1.785 to the leaders and just a second back Crawford/Hardie after recording their fastest lap so far 1:14.1. At the end of lap thirteen Founds/Walmsley set their personal best for the race 1:14.086 and with the Ramsdens only managing 1:14.7 the former had extended their lead to 2.438s. But this was to prove the final lap as the race was red flagged after Jackson/Christie who were in fourth place at the time went upside down in the middle of the circuit. I am pleased to report both were fine. Founds/Walmsley take the win with the Ramsdens finishing second and setting the fastest lap and Crawford/Hardie a very creditable third from their start position of fifteenth. In the F2 cup it was the same finishing positions as race one with Gibson/Moore taking the class win by thirteen seconds over Shipley/Saidi who in turn were nearly fifteen seconds ahead of Remnant/Tilley. Super F2 Founds/Walmsley Ramsden/Ramsden Crawford/Hardie Hegarty/Neave Gibson/Moore (F2 Cup) Shand/Belsey F2 Cup Gibson/Moore Shipley/Saidi Remnant/Tilley Lumley/Whitnell Schofield/Taylor Pettman/Taylor With some fantastic battles all the way through the field and all teams put on a great show for those that ventured to watch. On behalf of the FSRA I would like to give thanks to the Marshals, medics and Wirral 100 organisational staff for what was a very difficult weekend weather wise. Report by Mark Dennis Photographs by Dirk Wharton