BMCRC RKB-F1 and F2 Sidecars
Alongside the British F1 and F2 sidecars, Bemsee’s F1 and F2 classes, sponsored by RKB, provided more modern three-wheeled action.
In the F1 class Paul and Tom Kirby qualified on pole with their ARS Yamaha, and converted it to two race wins on Saturday.
Brian Gray and Gary Wheeler were twice second, while the pairing of Chris Wright and Paul Bailey and Lewis Nicol and Rhys Gibbon took a third place finish each.
In the F2 class Gary and Daryl Gibson ran out winners in race one, ahead of Craig Goodier and Mark Brown.
The battle for third saw three outfits duelling over the final podium spot. Craig Hauxwell and Derek Taylor, Ralph Remnant and Samantha Tilley, and Charlie Morphet and William Reilly were all in contention for the bronze medal position, with Hauxwell and Taylor coming out on top, as Remnant and Tilley retired on the final lap, leaving Morphet and Reilly to take fourth.
Goodier and Brown improved on second to win race two, crossing the line some 20 seconds up on Hauxwell and Taylor. The main action was again the battle for third place.
Less than a second covered Ireston Honda-mounted Alun Thomas and Adam Nix, 2002 Lumley-equipped Remnant and Tilley, and Morphet and Reilly’s LCR Suzuki, as they finished third, fourth, and fifth.
On a drying track on Sunday morning Nicol and Gibbon made a strong start and led from start to finish, but they were chased in the early stages by Chris Wright and Paul Bailey. Meanwhile, Gordon Pottinger and David Dodd were also making progress, cutting through the field to second place by lap six.
From there, they got within a second of the leaders, but Nicol and Gibbon upped the ante and set their fastest lap of the race on the final lap to cross the line one and a half seconds up on their pursuers.
Unfortunately for Pottinger and Dodd they were handed a 10 second penalty for jumping the start, and were demoted to fifth overall, fourth in the F1 class. Gray and Wheeler inherited the runner-up spot, as Wright and Bailey just held off the F2 class winners of Hauxwell and Taylor to finish third overall.
Morphet and Reilly and Aden Pearson and Billy Parker finished seventh and eighth overall to complete the F2 class podium.
Wright and Bailey won the final race and took the F1 win, while second overall and the F2 win went to Goodier and Brown. Nicol and Gibbon finished third to take second in the F1 category, with Paul and Tom Kirby fourth overall, and third in class.
The F2 podium was rounded off by Hauxwell and Taylor and Remnant and Tilley in sixth and seventh overall.
Over the course of the weekend, the start line crew - headed by ex-sidecar racer Jeff Matthews - were called upon to judge the most deserving performance from all four races, in order to award the Tim McGrane Memorial Trophy. It was awarded on the podium after the last club sidecar race on Sunday, with Paul andTom Kirby the deserving recipients.
British Historic Bears Sidecars
David Lissaman and Mark Leeton qualified on pole by over five and a half seconds in the British Historic Bears class, but that was as good as their weekend got, the pair twice retiring from the lead on Saturday.
Leading by over 12 seconds in race one, Lissaman and Leeton retired on the final lap, handing the win to Steve Gagg and Sylvia Hase, though they were pushed all the way by Scott Whitaker and Guy Pawsey. Mark Hegarty and Jack Tritton were third.
Lissaman and Leeton led the way again in race two, but this time their race only lasted until the third lap before coming to a premature end. Gagg and Hase again inherited the lead, but they were passed on the last lap by Whitaker and Pawsey, who took the win.
Gagg and Hase were second, with Hegarty and Tritton third.
On Sunday Gagg and Hase picked up a brace of victories aboard their BMW K100-powered outfit.
Hegarty and Tritton were second in race one on the day after coming through from the middle of the pack, ahead of Moto Guzzi-propelled Steven Kemp and Melanie Austin.
In the final race Whitaker and Pawsey claimed second, some half a minute ahead of Phil Higginson and Steve Moffat.
Camathias Cup Sidecars
In the Camathias Cup, the European Classic sidecar series, Kieran Clarke and Patricia Vissher set pole in qualifying, before racing to two wins.
On a drying track for race one the pair, in a Moorespeed-sponsored KCR BMW machine, took the lead on lap two, and from there were never headed, as they raced to victory.
After leading the opening lap, the Dawson pairing of Bob and Adrian finished second, five seconds up on Tony Thirkell and Trevor Johnson.
While the race was relatively processional at the front, the fight for fourth saw three pairings covered by a second at the chequered flag. Jack and Dave Gristwood took the position, chased home by John and Chrissy Clancy and David Lissaman and Mark Leeton, who were in action on a JPR BMW.
Only two races were scheduled for the Camathias Cup over the course of the weekend, and in the second Clarke and Vissher doubled up, winning by nearly 10 seconds.
Bob Dawson, this time with Danny Quirk as a passenger, with Thirkell and Johnson again third.
FSRA Wintec Pre-injection Sidecar Championship
Rob Fisher and Sarah Stokoe collected all four wins from pole position in the FSRA Wintec Pre-injection Sidecar Championship in a perfect weekend for the duo.
Setting a qualifying time some two seconds quicker than anyone else, the Fisher and Stokoe pairing raced to a dominant overall victory in race one on their Thundercat-propelled outfit. Simon Horton and Jordon Forest were second and the F1 class winners, ahead of John and James Saunders on the second F2 machine.
It was a similar story in race two, as Fisher and Stokoe took a second comfortable win, again from Horton and Forest, winners in both the F2 and F1 classes respectively. This time, Wes Pettman and Rian Saunders were third overall and second in the F2 category, but over a whole minute off the race winners’ time.
Win number three for Fisher and Stokoe came in a wet race to open Sunday’s proceedings, half a minute up on Bob Dawson and Sarah Hulme, who this time took second on their FZR 600-powered machine, with Pettman and Saunders third, making it an all-F2 podium.
Martin Best and Maverick Davies, in sixth, were the F1 class winners.
The clean sweep was assured in the final race, this time with victory over Saunders and Saunders by a comparatively paltry 19 seconds. It was another all-F2 podium with Andrew Bingham and Joshua Smith third. Dave Tibbles and Raitch Greenwood took the F1 victory.
Blue Haze GP and GPF
It was a perfect weekend in the supporting Blue Haze GP and GPF class races for Stuart Hall, as he qualified on pole before picking up four race wins.
In race one he bested GP series leader and early race leader Kevin Wholey to take victory. Wholey finished two seconds adrift of the win but over 20 seconds ahead of Rik Ballerini in third. David Abraham finished sixth overall and took the GPF - production-based championship - victory.
Four seconds was Hall’s margin of victory in race two, but behind less than a tenth of a second decided the runner up, as Ballerini clinched it ahead of Wholey. In fourth, Abraham was again the GPF winner.
It was three from three for Hall in Sunday’s opener, as Wholey and Ballerini reversed their finishing positions from the previous race. Abraham in fifth added another GFP win to his tally.
In the final race Hall made it a perfect weekend, but in the wet conditions he was pushed all the way by Ballerini, the gap just over a tenth of a second at the chequered flag.
Series leader Wholey was third, Geoff Mook was fifth and took 25 GFP championship points.
DFDS Yamaha Past Masters
Following a clean sweep at Brands Hatch, Yamaha Past Masters championship leader Scott Carson qualified on pole at Cadwell Park, as the class made a guest appearance at Bemsee’s Sidecar Revival festival. His title rival, Doug Edmondson, would start race one from the back row of the grid after a problem in qualifying.
From the 10th row Edmondson cut through to finish fifth, as Carson ran out the winner, taking the chequered flag 12 seconds up on the battle for second place.
That was fought between Billy Perkins and Peter Branton, with Branton holding Perkins off for much of the race. But after shadowing the former champion until the final lap, Perkins pulled off a last minute pass to take the runner up spot. Branton was third.
A top-10 for David Ball, in ninth, gave him the Clubman class win, with Dan Miles top rookie.
After a less than ideal start to the weekend, Edmondson recovered ground on Carson with a dominant win in a wet race two. Perkins aided race-winner Edmondson in beating Carson to second, helping the reigning champion recover nine points on the series leader.
Ninth this time gave Richard Haywood the Clubman win, Adam Collins in 19th gave him the Rookie win.
Back in the dry, race three saw Carson edge away from Edmondson, as the pair took solitary first and second place finishes respectively. Perkins and Branton reignited their feud from race one, and battled over the final podium spot. Branton, this time, came out on top.
Ball and Miles won the Clubman and Rookie classes.
After more rain, a drying track for the fourth and final race ended with Edmondson and Carson switching positions to finish first and second, with Perkins again on the podium in third, as he again finished ahead of Branton.
Haywood was the victor in the Clubman class, with Miles again the Rookie winner.