The second round of the 2019 Pro Clean British sidecarcross championships took place at the sandy Preston Docks circuit hosted by the Iveston & Satley MCC.
Because of a number of injuries and also the clash with another major sidecar event in the UK the number of riders entered was just nineteen and that number was reduced by one after free practice when Rob Moss was injured. On the plus side it was good to see the return of defending champions Brett Wilkinson / Ryan Humphrey after a three-month layoff because of Brett’s injuries sustained at Lommel in April. Sadly their day was cut short after race two because Ryan had injured his knee.
In timed practice fifteen times champion Stuart Brown and his passenger Josh Chamberlain posted the fastest time just ahead of Gary Moulds / Steve Kirwin with Jake Brown / Joe Millard third and Wilkinson a very creditable fourth.
When the gate dropped for the first moto Stuart Brown took the holeshot and never looked back for the whole race going on to win by nearly fifteen seconds. Wilkinson was in second place and Moulds third but the Irishman only lasted two laps having to pull out because of an injury to Kirwin. In third place were Kinge / Gray ahead of Jake Brown who pushed them hard but Kinge’s race was over after four laps when he pulled off with bike problems. Towards the end of the race Jake Brown was in the wheel tracks of Wilkinson but he was unable to get past so Wilkinson went on to finish second with Jake Brown third and Foden / Bijenhof on the only right handed outfit in fourth. The highest placed rider in the Experts class were Grahame / Ide in sixth place.
For race two Moulds had called upon Ryan Henderson to replace the injured Kirwin and although they were well placed initially they were forced to slow and finally came home in seventeenth place. At the front Stuart Brown again took the holeshot and was never challenged for the duration going on to win by sixteen seconds. Initially in second place was Wilkinson but he was soon passed by Jake Brown. In fourth place was Kinge and Hodges / Grahame in fifth.
These positions remained unchanged to the flag with leading Experts, Grahame / Ide sixth closely followed by Emma Moulds / Niki Adair. This was the highest finishing position in the British championship ever for a female driver.
The final race of the day saw only fifteen crews come to the line. Once again Stuart Brown led from gate to flag and Jake Brown held second for the duration. Kinge came home in third, and once again the leading Expert was Grahame this time with stand in passenger Ryan Henderson.
Stuart Brown now leads the series with a full house 150 points, twenty-two points ahead of Jake Brown with Kinge and Hodges tying for third on 100 points. Leading the Experts class are Grahame / Ide thirty-seven points ahead of second placed Whitt / Lloyd.
The next round will again be hosted by the Iveston club at Dean Moor on 21
st July.