The fourth round took place this past weekend after an eleven week break on the 1.55 miles coastal circuit of Anglesey. This round would see the F2 cup championship lead change hands and mixed fortunes for Peter Founds/Jevan Walmsley.
A ten lap free practice in the morning which saw thirty six sidecars take to the circuit which included the FSRA pre injection, FSRA F350 class, the Wirral 100 sidecar club runners and the ACU/FSRA British F2 sidecars. With between eight and ten laps of practice under their belts, it was back to the paddock to make any changes before qualifying.
Just before qualifying took place all thirty six sidecars took to the circuit for a memorial lap for the late Roy Hawkins.
There were twenty one sidecars out for qualifying at very blustery Trac Mon and this would indeed affect the qualifying times in comparison to last year. It would show that seven of the top eleven teams achieved their fastest lap on lap four and on pole for the fourth constitutive time it was the LCR Rowtec Suzuki of Peter Founds/Jevan Walmsley with a time of 1:14.154, just 0.2s adrift the LCR Honda of Ramsden Racing Steve and Matty Ramsden. In third place was a very surprised Conrad Harrison/Andy Winkle on their Printer Rolling Services Bellas Honda with a time of 1:15.199. In securing fourth position on lap seven were Lee Crawford/Scott Hardie on their LCR Suzuki of Team ARC with a time of 1:15.238 just 0.038s behind. In fifth position Sean Hegarty/James Neeve of Hegarty Racing on their Baker recording their quickest time also on lap four 1:15.573 and making the top six and first of the F2 Cup competitors from the Isle of Man Mike Jackson/Callum Crowe registering a time of 1:16.408.
This year’s times for the front two were over a second down on last year and it showed with how blustery the conditions were around the circuit with a strong head wind down the back straight.
So on to race one which took place just a couple of hours after qualifying at 16.30. Agonisingly for Harrison/Winkle, they suffered a rear flat tyre on the formation lap so were forced to retire from the start of the race.
It was the pole setters Founds/Walmsley leading the chasing pack in to turn one and at the end of lap one of twenty, Hegarty/Neave had gained two places to third, the Lowther Brothers John and Jake had also gained two places up to fifth on their Team ARC sponsored LCR Honda and chasing down their team mates Crawford/Hardie in fourth place. Holding station in sixth and the first F2 Cup team were Jackson/Crowe currently second in the F2 Cup who were looking to gain ground on the F2 Cup championship leaders Team Powerhouse Brian Ilaria/Jody James who were down in eighth place of the Cup teams and fourteenth overall after starting on row ten. Moving up three places and in second of the F2 Cup Kev Thornton/Dave Dean on their LCR Suzuki and making the top three Nicky Dukes/William Moralee. Also moving up three places Ralph Remnant/Samantha Tilley on their Lumley Kawasaki and making the overall top ten. At the end of lap two Dukes/Moralee had gone above Thornton/Dean in to second place in the Cup and Ilaria/James had dropped back to eighteenth position. On the completion of lap three Downes/Hainsworth on their M.R Equipe Suzuki had gone ahead of Millington/Deeley also on a M.R Equipe in fourteenth and fifteen places overall. After lap six it was the Founds/Walmsley pairing still leading the Ramsdens by around 0.5s but then they both encountered back markers and this proved to help Founds/Walmsley who had increased their lead out to two seconds by the end of lap seven. Also by the end of lap seven Crawford/Hardie had moved ahead of Hegarty/Neave in to third place. At the end of lap eight Founds/Walmsley recorded the fastest lap of the race with a 1:14.068 and move 2.475s ahead of the Ramdsen’s. The husband and wife team of Giles and Jen Stainton Team SAS on their LCR Suzuki named “Alan” after the previous owner (Alan Founds) had moved ahead in to fifth place in the F2 Cup and twelfth position overall relegating Lumley/Whitnall on their Lumley engineering bike to sixth in class. At the end of lap nine the gap between the front two was down to 1.279s. There was also a change in the F2 Cup with Remnant/Tilley slotting in to third place in the F2 Cup and ninth overall. The positions stayed as they were until the end of lap fourteen and Hegarty/Neave had gone ahead of Crawford/Hardie to take third place. The leaders Founds/Walmsley had opened up a 3.7s lead and could this be six wins out of seven? The pairing of Crawford/Hardie retired on lap sixteen promoting the Lowther Brothers John and Jake in to fourth place and Team Petpals Dave Wallis/Ashley Moore on their LCR Suzuki in to the top five.
Starting the twentieth and final lap Founds/Walmsley held nearly an eight second lead over the Ramdsen’s and as so often after twenty laps around this coastal course something always occurs and it did to the leaders as the chequered flag came out it was the father and son pairing of Steve and Matty Ramsden who took the win finishing 5.658s ahead of second place and recording their best result in the championship this season Sean Hegarty/James Neave with the final podium place going to John Lowther/Jake Lowther. In fourth place Wallis/Moore, fifth place and first F2 Cup team, a great result for Mike Jackson/Callum Crowe and limping home in sixth position Peter Founds/ Jevan Walmsley after inspection from the Clerk of the Course found a broken trail plate. In seventh and second in class Nicky Dukes/William Moralee and eighth position and third in class Ralph Remnant/Samantha Tilley. In ninth Kev Thornton/Dave Dean and making the top ten Giles and Jen Stainton.
The weather for the Sunday had shown all week that rain was forecast, however it remained dry throughout and so on to race two.
This took place at 14,30 also in blustery conditions but dry. It was the Founds/Walmsley pairing leading in to the first corner with Harrison/Winkle second and Hegarty/Neave third, both relegating the Ramdsen’s to fourth. At the end of lap two Crawford/Hardie went ahead of their team mates John and Jake Lowther in to fourth. In the F2 Cup it was once again Jackson/Crowe leading the way with Dukes/Moralee in second and Lumley Whitnall in third. On the completion of lap four the Ramsden’s had slotted in to third place ahead of Hegarty/Neave and Thornton/Dean had moved into third in class ahead of Lumley/Whitnall. There was no change in positions until the completion of lap eleven which saw Steve and Matty Ramsden move in to second place ahead of Harrison/Winkle and by this time Founds/Walmsley had opened up an eight second lead. This is how the positions remained at the chequered flag. In the F2 Cup it was Remnant/Tilley taking the points for third as Thornton/Dean and Shipley/Saidi were entered as wildcards.
The Super F2 Cup positions top three
Founds/Walmsley 168
Ramsden/Ramsden 140
Lowther/Lowther 122
F2 Cup positions
Jackson/Crowe 138
Ilaria/James 122
Remnant/Tilley 115
The FSRA would like to give thanks to the Wirral 100 club for hosting us this weekend and also please pass on our thanks to the Medics and Marshalls for giving up their time.