A.C.U. / F.S.R.A. British F2 Sidecar Championship Approaching The Half Way Point

Words – Tim Langham (F.S.R.A. Press Officer) / Photographs – Dirk Wharton

The A.C.U. / F.S.R.A. British F2 Sidecar Championship returns to Cadwell Park’s Sidecar Revival for the second time following their inaugural invitation back in 2019. At that meeting, Pete Founds / Jevan Walmsley proved invincible, taking pole position and a hat-trick of wins, breaking the lap record on each occasion, on their way to an unprecidented fourth consecutive British Championship.

The series marks it’s half way point in what has been another season disrupted by the effects of the global pandemic, and while Cadwell Park was initially planned to be the sixth round of the series, it is in fact only the fourth, owing to the postponement of the Knockhill round until later in the season, and the outright cancellation of Anglesey back in June.

So far this year, Lee Crawford / Scott Hardie (LCR Suzuki) have been in dominant form. At British Championship level, they have secured the fastest qualifying time at each event thus far, and won the first five races (taking the lap record at Donington Park) in convincing fashion. In their most recent outing at Mallory Park they were frustrated by the machine stalling at The Hairpin, and despite dropping to the back of the field, they put in a spirited ride to recover, crossing the line fourth. They bring a huge 66 point advantage to Cadwell Park over Sean Hegarty / James Neave.

The “F2 Cup” is a sub-series for lesser experienced teams to compete in – competitors who are seeded into this section do also score points in the main “Super F2” Championship too. Leading the Cup category are newcomers to the series Harry Payne / Mark Wilkes (GP Yamaha). Despite an incident at Brands Hatch which put former World Champion Wilkes out of contention for the Donington Park event (Emmanuelle Clement stepped in to deputise), four wins from the same number of starts, and lap records in the Cup section at Mallory and Donington have seen this team shoot to the top of the standings, and indeed are third overall in the “main” British Championship.

Other teams to look out for include the aforementioned Founds / Walmsley (LCR Honda); 2015 British Champion Alan Founds / Jake Lowther (LCR Yamaha); two-times champion Gary Horspole / Kenny Cole (Shelbourne Honda) and T.T. winners Conrad Harrison / Andy Winkle (Bellas Honda). In the F2 Cup, consistent podium finishing has seen Roger & Bradley Stockton (LCR Suzuki) head the chase to Payne / Wilkes, while Chris Schofield / Shane Colbrook (Baker Honda); Shaun & Ben Chandler (Baker Honda) and Brian Ilaria / Matt Sims (DDM Suzuki) to name but a few are all capable of being at the front.

Lap records currently stand as follows:
Super F2 – 01:36.208 – Ben & Tom Birchall (08/08/20)
F2 Cup – 01:38.189 – Pete Founds & Jevan Walmsley (06/09/15)

The F.S.R.A. would, as always like to acknowledge the A.C.U. for their assistance and awarding the official “British Championship” title. Thanks also to our series sponsors: A.R.C. (Binchester / Newton Aycliffe); A.V. Craine & Son; Hegarty Plant Ltd; Leeds Parcel Company; Lockside Engineering; Pagid Racing (Breitenbach Rennsport); Rowtec Engineering Maintenance; and Whitby Cottages.

Finally, on behalf of the F.S.R.A. and our teams, I would like to thank B.M.C.R.C. for hosting us this weekend, and extend this to all their dedicated staff, officials, marshals, medics and all the other volunteers involved in organising and conducting this fantastic event.

The next round of the championship is scheduled for the weekend of the 21st and 22nd August at Croft, for the “Battle of Britain” event. In the meantime, please keep up to date with F.S.R.A. news, including race reports and up to date championship points on the website – www.fsra.org.uk