The Melville Motor Club welcomed the F.S.R.A. Pre-Injection Sidecar Championship to the final round of the Scottish championship. This year, the club have also been celebrating fifty years of racing at East Fortune.
In perfect weather conditions, there was success for Simon Horton / Jordon Forrest (1100 Wintec Suzuki) who took all four F1 class victories. Whilst not able to attend on Saturday, Rob Fisher / Sarah Stokoe (600 Baker Yamaha) arrived in time for the Sunday action, winning both F2 races with ease. Having been unable to attend the previous round, owing to classic racing commitments, the novice F2 team of Bob Dawson /Sarah Hulme (600 Derbyshire Yamaha) also had a largely successful weekend.
This was the penultimate round of this series, and with four points scoring races on the cards, there was a possibility of championship positions being settled. The Saturday race one winners were Dawson / Hulme, crossing the line one second in front of Horton / Forrest. In third was the F2 of Wes Pettman / Rian Saunders (600 Windle Yamaha). Placing fourth – returning to the championship having missed a number of events over the summer – were Mark Burns / Steve Winfrow (1000 Baker Yamaha, followed by Dave Tibbles / Raitch Greenwood (FJ1100 Yamaha). There was disappointment for novice F2 team Liam / James Saunders (600 Shelbourne Yamaha), who led in the early stages, before a terminal mechanical failure put an early end to their weekend's racing.
Saturday race two saw a win for Horton / Forrest, with, Pettman / Saunders second, and Burns / Winfrow third. Dawson / Hulme were fourth, having lost time with a broken gear lever in the latter stages. Tibbles / Greenwood were fifth, with Steve Alexander / Amanda Mason (1000 Broadstock Yamaha) seventh.
Sunday race one saw Fisher / Stokoe take the win from the back of the grid. Horton / Forrest placed second, and Pettman / Saunders third, Tibbles / Greenwood fourth, Burns / Winfrow fifth and Alexander / Mason sixth.
Sunday race two again saw a dominant victory for Fisher / Stokoe, with Dawson / Hulme second. Behind the two F2’s came Horton / Forrest, then Pettman / Saunders, and Burns / Winfrow took fifth. The two FJ Yamahas of Tibbles / Greenwood and Alexander / Mason completed the finishing order, taking sixth and seventh respectively.
The numbers were down for this round for a number of reasons, including one team who suffered a mechanical breakdown on their way to the circuit, and also the worry over fuel shortages which became evident as last week went on. Thank you to the teams who did attend – especially Wes Pettman having over a nine-hundred-mile round trip from Gravesend! The Pagid sponsorship money which is normally awarded as a raffle prize was split between all the entered teams as a goodwill gesture towards the fuel costs.
The final round of the series will be held at Anglesey over the weekend of the 9th and 10th October.