The rest of the weekend, as far as sidecars go, was sensational! Jean Pierre Capel was at the circuit to select his best men/women for his team and I was there to wheel out the big guns for team UK.
In 750 class the EU team consisted of:
Patrick Noel/Johan van Becelaere (B)
Frank Jordens/Peter Sente (B)
Frank Schoonderbeek/Marja Van Den Bor (NL)
Team UK consisted of the vastly experienced and reliable, or so we hoped:
Bill Hodgkins/Bert Vloemans
Brian Toombs/Mickel Lugtmeier
Eddy Toombs/Bob Dowty
InG3 - our P3, the EU team was:
Frank Schoonderbeek/Marja Van Den Bor (NL)
Andi Rolli/Beate Gubler Rolli (CH)
Kobus Bouman/Sam Kiers (NL)
Geert Vansevenant/Eddy Hubrechsen (B)
Michel Lederman/Bernadette Lederman (B)
These were pitted against:
Vince Biggs/Phil Biggs
Brian Gray/Alan Bedford
EddyWright/Vicky Cooke
Matt Kingsmill/Andrew Johnson
Chris Nickels/Ian Nickels
In Race 1 750 - Bill Hodgkins was a man on a mission. Some fine tuning between practice and race had allowed Bill's Norton powered Windle to take to the front ahead of pole sitter Frank Schoonderbeek's Triumph power. Eddy Toombs aboard his big-wheeled 750 BMW was in a creditable third place, two places on the road ahead of the Belgian team of Patrick Noel and Johan van Becelaere, also BMW powered. Sadly for Team UK Brian Toombs' BMW had consumed a big end, ending his race very prematurely.
In G3 Race 1 - Geert Vansevenant and Eddy Hubrechsen had put the Belgian BMW on pole position 0.6 seconds ahead of Brian Gray and Alan Bedford, Honda powered. Eddy Wright and Vicky Cooke (Imp powered) were third with the fabulous Vincent of Michel and Bernadette Lederman in fourth. It was to be a flag to flag victory for the Belgian pairing, a dominant ride, whilst behind Vince Biggs and Brian Gray were fighting for second place. Behind that fantatic battle we had Eddy and Vicky and the Ledermans on the big Vincent, giving the Imp a run for its money, Eddy making it to the chequered flag just ahead of Michel despite Michel's best efforts.
Race 2 750 - As in race 1 it was Bill Hodgkins who dominated the class with another flag to flag win on the No.77 Norton Windle. Second home was the big-wheeled BMW of Eddy Toombs and Bob Dowty. In third we had the Belgian pairing of Patrick Noel and Johan van Becelaere. Frank Jordens was the next team member home, whilst the gremlins still haunted Brian Toombs and Mickel Lugtmeier - after five laps once again the BMW called "enough".
Race 2 Group 3 - Once again Geert and Eddy took to the front and established a comfortable lead. Vince and Phil Biggs were working hard to keep Brian Gray behind. The Lederman's Vincent was on a charge, Michel clearly enjoying himself whilst keeping the orange Imp of Eddy Wright behind. Sadly this battle would end on lap 3 when the Vincent started making strange noises forcing Michel to pull off. The gremlins would also hit the No.15 outfit of Geert and Eddy - their comfortable lead had definitely shrunk - a faulty engine cut-off switch was causing the engine to do just that - cut off and then with a wiggle re-connect for another few seconds. Their lead was disappearing fast and they would end up dropping to sixth place. Vince Biggs took the win 6 seconds ahead of Brian Gray and Alan Bedford, with Eddy and Vicky in third and Chris and Ian Nickels fourth. With the UK taking the first four places on the road the UK were hauling in the points.
So ended another fantastic weekends racing. The weather at times looked suspect but in the end the sun prevailed. A big thanks to all the marshals and officials for all the hard work and hopefully we'll all meet again at Gedinne for round 3 of the European Team Sidecar Challenge, sponsored by Powerbiking UK (Brian Gray).
Points so far:
Team GB Team EU
Brands Hatch 168 104
Chimay 204 150
Gedinne
Cadwell Park
Look forward to seeing you all at Gedinne. At this moment it doesn't look as if either Brian Gray or Matt Kingsmill will be going to Gedinne and although Damien Perilleux will be back for the European team - Jean Pierre you're still going to need to work some magic!
Ian Johnson
