Wednesday May 6, 2015 at 3:41pm
The second round of the 2015 British F2 Sidecar championship sees a return to Silverstone. Amazingly it is 12 years since Silverstone featured in the championship results, Ian Bell and Neil Carpenter taking the spoils that day. It was scheduled in the 2007 calendar but torrential rain caused the meeting to be abandoned and was also host to the Silverstone Challenge and Swan Combi races in 2009 and 2010. The opening round at Oulton Park two weeks ago saw John Holden and Dan Sayle take a double win, with Alan Founds and Tom Peters runners-up in both races. With the curtailed opening race only counting towards half-points, we have Holden on 37.5 leading from Founds on 30 with Steve and Mattie Ramsden third on 22.5! In the F2 Cup, the competition for the less experienced teams, the Ramsdens lead with 37.5 points from Sean Reeves and Mark Wilkes on 26.5 and Pete Founds and Andrew Taylor third on 26. It was a notable that in the Oulton Park races that the F2 Cup entrants featured nearly as much as the ‘old hands’. A changing of the guard? Perhaps but it’s still early in the season and with the likes of reigning champions Gary Bryan and Jamie Winn and one or two others expected to be back in the leading places. This weekend the Sam Hamilton Trophy will be awarded to the aggregate winner over the two races. This prestigious award also carries a cash prize of £250 to the winner with £175, £150, £100, £75 and £50 for 2nd down to 6th place. The setter of the fastest lap will gain £100 as will the most improved performance of the weekend. Sam was a very popular figure on the sidecar scene for many years and our thanks to his family for their support this weekend. Plenty to aim for then, as well as the valuable championship points!