Croft Report 2026

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 Six – Croft – Darlington & District Motor Club (DDMC). 22-23 rd August 2026

Words – Josh Smith / Photographs – Simon Heath

The ACU FSRA British F2 Championship headed to the annual DDMC Battle of Britain

meeting at Croft, with the possibility of both championships being wrapped up if Matty

Ramsden and Ben Stell could maintain the dominance and consistency they have shown

since the first weekend of the year. Trailing the front runners, Holden/Sharp sat 73 points

behind heading into the weekend. With only 130 points up for grabs, it was imperative for

their championship hopes to claw back points. The cup class painted a similar picture, with

the Moore’s trailing Ramsden/Stell by 86 points.

Qualifying was topped by the championship leaders, providing them with the perfect opportunity to win their first British title. Holden/Sharp followed, 7 tenths off the pace of the front runners, struggling with the handling of their machine, with James Saunders only another tenth back, showing impressive pace given the huge step up in speed for passenger Abi Caiger. Schofield/Astley would round up the 2nd row, a position in front of Moore/Moore, in their battle for 2nd place in the Cup championship. The Stringers qualified 6th, showing that they would be able to follow on from their impressive results at Castle Combe, however they would be put under pressure from the 3 riders behind. Schofield/Colbrook, Baker/Dawkins and Morphet/Anderson all looked capable of producing a weekend long battle, their lap times only split by a few tenths. Hanks/Wheeler and Riley/James would round up the back of the grid, both hoping to find more speed as the weekend goes on.

Race 1, a shorter 8 lap race, was won comprehensively by Ramsden/Stell, taking a lights to flag win by 15 seconds over Holden/Sharp, who was put under pressure for the majority of the race by Saunders/Caiger until the last 2 laps where they were finally able to bridge out a 3 second gap to the wildcards. Schofield/Astley managed to wrap up the podium in the cup class, with the battle for 4th between Moore/Moore and Schofield/Colbrook being the only action on the grid. After following for 6 laps, Schofield/Colbrook made a move and tried to pull a gap on the father and son team. The Moores managed to hold onto the back of the Bellas Yamaha, trying a last lap move around the outside of the hairpin, leading to a drag race to the line which they managed to win by just 0.025s over the line. The Stringers followed, wrapping up another great result for the team, ahead of Morphet/Anderson, Baker/Dawkins and Hanks/Wheeler rounding up the field, improving their pace with each session of the weekend. Riley/James missed the start of the race, suffering from a misfire, which would later be diagnosed as a broken spark plug.

The 2nd race of Saturday brought an identical race for Ramsden/Stell, once again dominating the race from the start despite admittedly making a few mistakes throughout the closing laps of the race, beating their championship rivals by 12.8 seconds over the 12 lap race. Holden/Sharp were put under pressure by Saunders/Caiger, who managed to fight with the number 8 outfit throughout the first 5 laps, chopping and changing positions consistently. Holden/Sharp, however, would take back 2nd position on lap 5, going on to stretch out a 10 second gap until the end of the race. Schofield/Astley took 4th position, with their rivals Moore/Moore breaking down on lap 2 after their regulator plug melted. Schofield/Colbrook finished 5th, but couldn’t shake off Morphet/Anderson who could never get close enough to make the move. Stringer/Stringer attempted a last lap move around the outside of the Morphet/Anderson outfit

heading into the complex, but would just run out of road, ending up turning into a half spin on the grass. They would still manage to take 7th, losing only a few seconds to the bikes in front, keeping themselves ahead of Riley/James who had now solved their misfire and just pipping Baker/Dawkins on the last lap. James Hanks and Gary Wheeler would once again round up the back of the field, but were now well within the pace of the riders ahead, knocking 3 seconds off of the lap time they had managed in the race a few hours earlier.

Given the typical late start at Croft, the only race on Sunday would be held over 12 laps, with Ramsden/Stell only needing a finish to claim their first British Championship title in their first year competing in the series. This however, did not stop them from trying to complete a perfect weekend, as we had seen in every race, they managed to open up a 5 second gap over the first 3 laps over Holden/Sharp, who had managed to get away from Saunders/Caiger this time. A mid-race surge from Holden/Sharp saw them able to match the pace of the leaders for the first time all weekend, reducing the gap but never enough to challenge for the win. Schofield/Astley would again finish 4th, however this time they were unable to gap Mophet/Anderson and Schofield/Colbrook, the former once again leaving a move until late in the race after following the rear wheel of Schofield/Colbrook for 10 laps. Hanks/Wheeler finally got the better of Baker/Dawkins, managing to find a way through on the final lap and now showing competitive pace on his GLR outfit.

With the weekend's results, Matty Ramsden and Ben Stell have become the ACU FSRA British F2 Champions, as well as the ACU FSRA British F2 Cup Champions with 1 round remaining, becoming the first to win both titles in the same year since Tony Elmer and Darren Marshall in 2005. The FSRA would like to congratulate everyone involved in the team, for producing such a dominant campaign, never finishing outside of the top 2 positions, alongside winning every race so far in the Cup.

After 6 rounds the standings are;

Supers				Cup
1st	Ramsden/Stell	305 pts		1st	Ramsden/Stell	330 pts
2nd	G. Holden/Lowther	219 pts		2nd	C. Schofield/Astley	212 pts
3rd	C. Schofield/Astley	170 pts		3rd	Moore/Moore	200 pts

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 Darling & District Motor Club for hosting, and to all their resolute officials, marshals, medics and all the other volunteers involved in running the event.