YOKOHAMA/ACU BRITISH FII SIDECAR CHAMPIONSHIP 
Qualifying: 36 entries and a grid of 30 meant disappointment was looming for six of the teams. There were two sessions, the first at 9 a.m. in what were decidedly low temperatures. The fastest five were in the 1m 45's, namely Nick Crowe and Mark Cox (Dave Hudspeth Carpets/HMPlant LCR Honda), Ben and Tom Birchall (Mitchells of Mansfield LCR Honda), Steve Coombes and Paul Knapton (Dave Hudspeth Carpets Ireson Honda), Tim Reeves and Patrick Farrance (Gunther Reischling Motorsport LCR Suzuki) and Dave Molyneux and Daniel Sayle (DM Racing Molyneux Suzuki).

Reeves and Farrance were a little fortunate as they found out mid-session that they were transponder-less and tore into the pits with five minutes remaining to put things right and still get in two recorded laps.
Not so fortunate were Greg Lambert and Craig Kinsella (GL Racing GLR Honda) who didn't get a recorded time and they joined Paul and Steve Sanderson (Sanderson Racing DDR Suzuki), Russ Pearce and Mark Salmon (Pearce Racing LCR Suzuki), Pete Alton and Michael Highton (OTC Racing Dyno Centre Baker Yamaha), Matt and Jo Williams (MR Equipe Suzuki) and Nikki Dukes and Mike Aylott (Team Dynobike BLR Honda) who were outside the top 30.
Still, there was the second session to come. But, alas, nothing changed for the conditions were wet and windy and the qualifying order remained as it had been after the first session.
However in between the sessions there had been a free practice for the teams involved in the MotoSix and this had resulted in the weekend's racing coming to an end for Gary Horspole and Scott Parnell (Sleaford Plant Hire LCR Honda).
They overturned at the Old Hairpin and although Gary and Scott were relatively OK, the outfit was not. Consequently Paul and Steve Sanderson were ultimately granted a 'reprieve' and took the 30^th spot on the grid.
Race One (8 Laps):  The showers had been and gone though it was still very cold and windy. Drama after the warm-up lap as Dave Molyneux returned to the pits – an ominous rattle, another engine gone. The lights went out, off they went. Birchall got a sluggish start, Coombes a flyer but everybody was going and somehow all got round Redgate. Coombes and Crowe led but Reeves was soon into second, and took the lead although Crowe led at the end of the lap.
Ian and Carl Bell (Ian Bell M/cs LCR Yamaha), seventh on the grid, were up to third with Birchall now in fourth ahead of Coombes. Phil Dongworth and John Luebke (WAS Racing Ireson Honda), Simon Neary and Stu Bond (Neary Racing Baker Suzuki), John Holden and Andy Winkle (D & A Walmsley LCR Suzuki), Roy Hanks and Dave Wells (Dorwingear Ltd Molyneux Suzuki) and Andy Laidlow and James Neave (Team LFR LCR Suzuki) completed the first ten.
The second and third laps saw Crowe and Reeves swapping places and also some paintwork while Coombes, Neary and Birchall seemingly changed the 3^rd to 5^th order at every possible opportunity! Looking across to the Melbourne Loop on lap 4, both Crowe and Reeves went in fast, both went wide and both cut back in sharpish but Reeves' outfit pitched forward and when the rear wheel touched down the chain cameoff. An unfortunate end to a brilliant dice.   
 So, Crowe had a fair lead with Birchall now second and Coombes third ahead of Neary and Bell. Holden was sixth ahead of Hanks and Dongworth with Dean Henry and Ian Smith (Magnam Racing Windle Suzuki) the leading FII Cup competitors in 9^th ahead of Laidlow, Tony Baker and Fiona Baker-Millington (Team Cumbria Express Baker Suzuki) and second in the FII Cup, Stephen Kershaw and Robin Wilson (Blinkbonny Quarry LCR Suzuki).
 The top 15 were completed by new pairing Dave Wallis and Steve Wareham (Team Petpals LCR Honda), Dean Lindley and Mark Sayers (Motorcycle Parts Leeds Bellas Yamaha) and Pete Farrelly and  Jason Miller (Reptile Racing MR Equipe Yamaha). However Wallis retired on lap 5 with an engine blow-up as did Wil Smith and Sean Starbuck (Team Porter Racing Shelbourne Honda) – fuel problem and they joined Conrad Harrison and Lee Patterson (Printing Roller Services Shelbourne Honda) and Tony Thirkell and Nigel Barlow (TT Motorsport MR Equipe Honda) on the sidelines.

That fifth lap saw Neary take third from Coombes and close on Birchall but Ben maintained a one second gap. Two laps to go and Matt Dix and Shaun Parker (DWS Racing Baker Honda) relinquished their 18^th position with a fuel problem.
Back at the front, Crowe and Cox kept their 4 plus seconds lead to the flag while Birchall set a new lap record to ensure second spot from Neary. Coombes was a fine fourth with Holden edging ahead of Bell for fifth and Dongworth holding off Hanks for 7

Dean Henry and Ian Smith were 9^th but more importantly for them the winners of the 25 points in the FII Cup competition. Tony Baker and Laidlow were 10th and 11th  while Kershaw was 12^th and 2^nd in the Cup. The points scorers were completed by Farrelly, Gary Bryan and Rob Bell (Drury Engineering Baker Yamaha) and Dave Lillieand Lee Watson (Ian Bell M/cs DMR Yamaha) who gained the final FII Cup podium spot on the last lap. Howard Baker and Mike Killingsworth (D&J Bike Spares Lincoln Shelbourne Honda) were 16^th ahead of Lindley who had slowed with brake trouble, while Bill Currie and Rob Biggs (LCR Yamaha) were 18^th, one ahead of Dean Banks and Nigel Brogan (Pat Hodson Builders Baker Suzuki).
The remaining finishers were all making their FII Championship debuts and all four scored FII Cup points, namely Karl Bennett and Lee Cain (Bennett-Cain Racing DMR Honda) in 20^th ahead of Miles Bennett and Kevin Perry (Mad Cow Racing Shelbourne Honda), Dave Atkinson and Jane Wheatcroft (DW Atkinson Builders LCR Suzuki) and Paul and Steve Sanderson – a good memory to have of your first championship race, a finish on the Donington GP track. So, what would Sunday bring..............
.Race Two (10 Laps)  With both Dave Molyneux and Dave Wallis sidelined by their Saturday engine problems, the way was open for the Russ Pearce/Mark Salmon and Pete Alton/Michael Highton pairings to step up from the reserves.
But there was plenty of drama still to unfold before Sunday's race got underway.

The first of the MotoSix sidecar races saw both Crowe and Neary suffer problems which required engine changes and they only had just over an hour to manage it. In addition, Karl Bennett and Lee Cain had retired from the Motosix and their place in the second 'British' race was taken by Matt and Jo Williams.
The teams gathered on the grid minus Crowe and Neary but also Wil Smith and Sean Starbuck – Sean had been feeling unwell. So, down to 27.
Back from the warm-up lap and no sign of Crowe or Neary who could have started from pit lane.Off they went, Coombes again on a flyer but the red flags went out after a four-outfit coming together at Redgate.
Fortunately no serious injuries but while Pete Farrelly and Jason Miller managed to get back to the grid for the restart, the Banks, Pearce and Sanderson outfits were non-starters. Oops, down to 24! - but the commentator is having kittens over Simon Neary possibly going to join the race from pit lane and sure enough an outfit is heard but it's Team Crowe, not poor Simon.
The starter does his bit and off go 24+1 outfits, all getting round Redgate cleanly enough. Birchall, with his best start so far, leading from Coombes, Reeves, Bell and Holden. Crowe stopped to make adjustments, while Reeves moved to second. Dix and Currie both toured in to retire while Crowe got going again only to call it a day after another lap.
Meanwhile the action was hotting up at the front with Reeves hounding Birchall and Tim took the lead on the fourth lap as Holden moved into third place. Birchall was back in the lead at the half-way stage before Reeves again got by. In fact, they were swapping places so frequently around the circuit that Holden was able to cut the deficit from 3 seconds down to 1 – a new lap record for John and Andy at 1m 42.33 certainly helped as well!
Coombes was holding on to fourth two seconds down on the leading trio but when Bell retired from fifth, the gap to Dongworth and Harrison was seven seconds. Henry was again the leading Cup driver but with his rival Kershaw in 9^th just behind Laidlow.

On the penultimate lap, Holden narrowed the gap to Reeves and Birchall to 0.51 of a second and it was obvious that any dicing between the leading duo would enable Holden to close further.Last lap and into the Foggy Esses – unseen by most spectators but on the screens in the Media Centre, the last drama unfolded.
Tim and Ben kept a tight line through leaving John the chance to go on the outside. He went for it but Ben then moved out as well and their outfits 'tangled' with Ben's forcing John forward but in an increasing smoke screen.
Tim went on to take the win and somehow John and Ben separated with John facing the right way and he took the runner-up spot, six hundredths ahead of Ben.

An important result for John – his first podium since Snetterton last June. Coombes, Dongworth, Hanks and Henry kept their 4^th to 7^th places but Kershaw took 8^th from Laidlow on the last lap. Hanks, Tony Baker and Bryan were 10^th to 12^th while Lindley was 13^th and also gained the final FII Cup podium spot. Farrelly and Howard Baker gained the final points-scoring places while Lillie, Miles Bennett, Thirkell, Atkinson, Williams and Alton completed the finishers.   
         And so ended the second of two tremendous races. Well done to Ben and Tom Birchall – two podiums, the championship lead and the Bill Boddice Trophy as well!
The 'well done's could last for ages but it was tremendous viewing at an excellent meeting.
Two races down, ten to go but the points leaders are: Birchall 36, Holden 31, Coombes 26, Reeves and Crowe 25 while in the FII Cup, Henry is on 50, Kershaw 40, Lillie and Lindley 29 with Miles Bennett on 20.
For last year's champions, Nick Crowe and Mark Cox, a good Saturday had turned in to a frustrating Sunday which had a nasty sting in the tail with the second MotoSix race seeing them punted off the track and overturning.
Hopefully only superficial damage- they'll be at Brands on Easter Weekend for the next instalment of what's going to be one hell of a championship!  John NewtonFSRA Press Officer.

This time last year we were all covered in snow were the memories, but this mothering Sunday first round of the 2009 championship was different bright sunny and perfect weather. The Auto 66 club as per usual were well organised and with three races on the full 2.173 mile full circuit a great day was planned.

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FSRA F1 Sidecar Championship.

Round 2 Croft

The second round of the FSRA F1 Sidecar Championship is on the bill of the NEMCRC's meeting at Croft on April 4-5. After a superb championship opener at Brands Hatch, Simon Gilbert and Mark Howard lead the title chase on 63 points, ten ahead of Roger Lovelock and Rick Lawrence. Gilbert and Howard won two of the three races at Brands, the other going to Andy Peach and Charlie Richardson who lie third in the table on 50 points.
The North-East Club's very own Phil Bell with Jamie Winn in the chair will be hoping to make home advantage count – a second place in the final race at Brands helped them to fourth overall and showed the new pairing is gelling.
The F1 Cup competition is led by Craig Chaplow and Danny Evanson with 75 points after three wins at Brands with Gordon and Darryl Pottinger second on 56 and Scott Lawrie and James Connell third on 45.
There are two championship races at Croft, one on each day and both timed at around mid-programme. What is certain is that all the crews will know they've been in a race after ten laps of the demanding circuit.


John Newton
FSRA Press Officer

YOKOHAMA/ACU/FSRA BRITISH F2 SIDECAR CHAMPIONSHIP
Round 1 Donington Park 28/29 March 2009

Welcome to this year's sidecar championship and what a brilliant way to begin! Our two sidecar races have been added to the Motosix events line-up and will take place over the 2.5-mile GP track, the first major sidecar races on the full circuit for over a decade, and hopefully in front of a good crowd for this first major meeting of the UK season.

It is sure to be an exciting year for the F2 sidecars with a return here in July at the British GP and so all the teams will be especially keen to get off to a good start. Leading the entry are the holders of the British title, Nick Crowe and Mark Cox who won their first title in a memorable year, which included of course a double at the TT. With a new LCR chassis and backing from the HM Plant concern they will be the team to beat but the line-up does boast Tim Reeves and Patrick Farrance, who won the British F1 title and finished runners-up in the Superside world series. Crowe and Cox won most races they finished last year but Reeves and Farrance scored a double victory over their rivals at Anglesey.

Another team, who contested the World Series finishing third, were Ben and Tom Birchall. The Mansfield brothers will make their TT debut this year and kitted out with Crowe's title-winning outfit from last year, it will be interesting to note their progress on the 600cc outfit.
Crowe is not the only TT-winning Manxman here today as Dave Molyneux and Daniel Sayle are in the line-up. Three years ago, 'Moly' won the opening two championship races, each by a country mile, but his championship hopes and indeed his season were ended by his 'flipover' during TT practice.

As ever, there are a host of experienced teams in the entry list including the champions from 2007, Simon Neary and Stu Bond, the champions from 2004, Roy Hanks and Dave Wells along with the double champions from the beginning of the decade, Gary Horspole (2000-01) and Ian Bell (2002-03). John Holden and Andy Winkle are three times runners-up while Conrad Harrison and Lee Patterson enjoyed their best-ever season finally finishing 5th, one place ahead of Steve Coombes, who won the F2 Cup competition.

The F2 Cup is a concurrently run series for the less-experienced teams and while teams can score points in both competitions, for many it is the race-within-a-race that attracts them. With the winner being 'promoted' each year, there has to be a new Cup winner and Dave Lillie and Lee Watson who were 2nd last year and Dean Lindley and Mark Sayers, 3rd, will be hoping to step up to the mark. They are going to face strong opposition from Dean Henry and Ian Smith, Wil Smith and Sean Starbuck and Scottish team Stephen Kershaw and Robin Wilson.

There are over a dozen teams competing for the Cup and include a number of newcomers to the Championship. So, a welcome to the Manx Centre Champions Karl Bennett and Lee Cain, the Scottish champions Dave Atkinson and Jane Wheatcroft, Paul and Steve Sanderson and the others making their series debut over the weekend. Let's hope all the new boys – and girls – enjoy their racing at this level.

The British F2 Sidecar Championship celebrates its 25th anniversary this year and the entry for this meeting is arguably the best ever in that time.
We hope the spectators, enjoy the 'three-wheelers' and hope to see you again – the next round is at the Easter BSB meeting at Brands Hatch, on 11/12/13 April.

John Newton
FSRA Press Officer.

The closing date for Round 1 Cadwell 22/3/09 is this Friday 6/3/09
Entry forms are available off the Auto 66 Web site
www.auto66.com