Brands Hatch R1

2026 A.C.U. / F.S.R.A. British F2 Sidecar Championship Incorporating the F2 Cup

Supported by Pagid Brake Pads/Breitenbach Rennsport, Whitby Cottages, Hegarty Plant Hire, Freight Hub, Tingles of Warmfield and Power Tools Rentals Ltd.

Round One – Brand Hatch – NG Road Racing. 21-22 March 2026

Words – Josh Smith / Photographs – Simon Heath

The 21st and 22nd of March brought around the beginning of the new ACU / FSRA British F2 Sidecar Championship with NGRRC at a sunny Brands Hatch. Despite a somewhat depleted grid compared to previous years, there was plenty of quality on show, with 4 teams looking more than capable of winning. Unfortunately, before the meeting could even begin we lost Tony Baker, due to his trailer breaking down en-route.

Saturday morning gave the opportunity for the riders who had not taken part in Friday's test sessions, to familiarise themselves with their machines on a cold and foggy circuit. The cold circuit did not stop the action on circuit, with championship newcomers Ramsden/Stell topping the timings with a 51.960, already 0.2 seconds under the F2 cup lap record set 16 years prior. The session saw drama for the Holden/Knapton crew, who were black flagged after 5 laps due to body work rubbing against the chair tyre, as well as Crawford/Hardie who unfortunately lost an engine, putting them in a race against time to get out for qualifying.

Qualifying came around little over an hour later, meaning the former British Champions would not be out on track, therefore starting at the back of the grid for Race 1. Ramsden/Stell were out of the blocks hot once again, setting a 51.700 early on in the session, with Holden/Lowther alongside reigning British Champions Kershaw/Gibbons hoping to pip the newcomers to pole position. Both managed to improve on the laptime, with Kershaw/Gibbons (51.365) pinching pole position by only 0.009 of a second over Holden/Lowther, with Ramsden/Stell unable to improve on their time from earlier in the session. Holden/Knapton would be lining up alongside Ramsden/Stell on row 2, with the wildcard KTM outfit of Gibson/Stokoe, showing great promise with their new engine, in 5th. The battle for the cup podium positions began with Thomas/Sigsworth picking up a 2nd position, despite running with the new TT restrictor plates, followed by both of the Schofield outfits and the Moore/Moore pairing, all 4 teams within a second of each other. Hancock/Bevan followed closely, with Hegarty/Ludlow uncharacteristically off the pace, knowing that they should be in the hunt for a cup podium.

With a long enough gap between qualifying and the race, Crawford/Hardie were able to get a fresh engine into the bike and take up their place at the back of the grid. However, pole-sitters Kershaw/Gibbons were unable to make the start of the race due to a technical issue they managed to spot in their data.

Off the line, Holden/Lowther got a great start and led the pack into the first corner. Heading into druids chaos erupted, with the Holden/Knapton losing power and the Moore/Moore outfit getting clipped from behind by Thomas/Sigsworth, putting the bike into a spin and rolling onto the grass. All 3 managed to carry on, but with big dents to their aspirations for the race. Many teams benefitted from the incident, Crawford/Hardie found themselves following Gibson/Stokoe in 4th at the end of lap 1, Schofield/Formstone took up 2nd in the cup with a 1.5 second gap back to Hegarty/Ludlow who seemed to have solved their issues from the morning sessions.

Out front, Holden/Lowther and Ramsden/Stell were matching each other for pace, lapping consistently in the low 52’s, with the latter never quite close enough to be able to make a move. Crawford/Hardie made their way through on Gibson/Stokoe to take 3rd where they would remain for the rest of the race, with the Gibson/Stokoe pairing also losing out to a resurgent Holden/Knapton.

In the cup, Schofield/Formstone had a 2 second gap back to Hegarty/Ludlow, until lap 5 where Chris unfortunately lost his passenger on the change of direction between Surtees and Mclaren. On the tail of Hegarty/Ludlow was Moore/Moore, who had managed to battle their way through Handcock/Bevan and Schofield/Colbrook after their lap 1 spin, and desperately looking for a way through on the purple and yellow machine. Despite numerous looks to the inside, a gap never opened, down to some brilliant defensive riding from Hegarty/Ludlow who went on to hold their 2nd position.

Sunday morning warmup went on to bring more of the same, Kershaw/Gibbons were back at the top of the timings after getting their issues that forced them out the race the day prior sorted. A train formed of the riders who will all be intent on getting onto the cup podium, with Moore/Moore following Hegarty/Ludlow as they had done in the race. Chris Schofield was without passenger Alistair Formstone after hurting his hand in his crash, but was instead joined by former passenger Tom Dawkins, who was at the meeting without a ride due to Tony Baker not making it.

As the grid for Race 2 is decided by fastest lap times from race 1, Holden/Lowther would be sat on pole, with Kershaw/Gibbons forced to try and come through from the back of the grid. Holden/Lowther once again got the holeshot and led the pack for the first lap, until Ramsden/Stell made their way through on lap 2 and tried to stretch the pace. An uncharacteristic start from Crawford/Hardie saw them behind cup riders Schofield/Dawkins in the early stages, who had once again managed to distance themselves from their cup competitors. Storming through from the back of the field, Kershaw/Gibbons found their way past Schofield/Dawkins and Crawford/Hardie, and had their eyes set on the veteran John Holden half a second up the road.

By lap 4 they had made their way into 3rd, and grabbed 2nd position from the Holden/Lowther crew just 3 laps later. Some blistering lap times from Ramsden/Stell (51.567), shattering the previous Cup Lap Record by 6 tenths of a second, had built them a comfortable gap of 1.5 seconds, but it was evident that Kershaw/Gibbons had more in the tank. The unmatchable pace of Kershaw/Gibbons (51.087) proved too much for Ramsden/Stell who were unable to hold onto the lead, bringing it home in second place but taking points for first due to the winners being wildcards. Holden/Lowther came home in 3rd place, with Crawford/Hardie in 4th and Holden/Knapton in 5th. 

In the battle for the podium places in the cup, Moore/Moore found themselves once again fighting with Hegarty/Ludlow for 3rd place with Schofield/Dawkins over 3 seconds up the road by lap 6. Finally, on lap 7, Moore/Moore found a way through into 3rd place with a clever overtake through Mclaren, and set about chasing the team in front, lapping around half a second faster per lap. The gap closed to just 2 tenths of a second as the last lap flag was shown, with Moore/Moore making a move to the inside into Paddock Hill, both teams remained side by side up until Graham Hill, where the Moore’s were able to sweep around the outside to take 2nd position. Hegarty/Ludlow just behind will have been hoping that the 2 bikes in front battling would have left the door open to also get involved in the last lap fight, but he found himself not quite close enough to make a move on Schofield/Dawkins into Surtees. Moore/Moore finished 2nd, Schofield/Dawkins 3rd and Hegarty/Ludlow narrowly missing out on a podium, all 3 bikes only split by 7 tenths.

After Round 1 the top 3 are:

Supers			Cup
1st	G. Holden/Lowther	45 pts	1st	Ramsden/Stell	50 pts
2nd	Ramsden/Stell	45 pts	2nd	Moore/Moore	36 pts
3rd	Crawford/Hardie	32 pts	3rd	Hegarty/Ludlow	33pts

On behalf of the F.S.R.A., I would like to express thanks to our loyal series sponsors, who have continued to pledge their support. A.C.U, Pagid Brake Pads/Breitenbach Rennsport, Whitby Cottages, Hegarty Plant Hire, Freight Hub, Tingles of Warmfield and Power tools Rentals Ltd, we thank you all for investing in the championship.

Finally, the F.S.R.A. would like to thank NG Road Racing for hosting, and to all their resolute officials, marshals, medics and all the other volunteers involved in running the event.