Better late than never - report on Tonfanau sidecars

[KatieMsidecar]

I was marshalling at Farm Straight, and after no sidecars at the July meeting, it was good to see a large (for Tonfanau) grid of eight sidecars come out for the two practice sessions. Gary Wilson and Mark Griffiths pulled in during the second session, and were wielding the spanners during the lunch break. I had a short chat with Terry Howse who hadn't finished a race during 2016, and Gordon Jones. Julie was in the programme as passenger for Gordon, but was laid low with a tummy bug. Luckily Kirsty Hauxwell was in the paddock and had her gear, so stepped on to the platform of the F350.

Racing began after lunch, and all were raring to go. John and Nigel Lowther got a bit over-enthusiastic and overshot the hairpin, rejoining in last place. Lee Chadwick and Adam Illman were having trouble with the brakes and bad handling, and Alan Longshaw with a passenger whose name I forgot, standing in while John Longbottom recovers from his knee operation, was also having problems. Both outfits pulled in, and took no further part that day.

Terry and Leigh finished a race! In fact they finished two, but pulled in during the warm-up lap of the third race. So nearly a clean sheet!

Anyway, back to first race. Nev Jones and Tom Bryant swept away to the front on their F1, closely followed by John Shipley and Jon Ahmed Saidi. Gary W and Mark Griffiths had obviously fixed the ex-Dave Holden F1, and Gary was beginning to get to grips with it in a secure third place. Gordon and Kirsty were fourth, followed by Terry and the Lowthers.

In the second race, Nev and Tom gave the rest of the field a head start, and then proceeded to overtake everyone. By lap 5 they were up to second. John Shipley was pushing hard, with his F2 snaking all the way round Heesons, but the superior speed and handling of the F1, meant that he couldn't hold out. Finishing order was Nev, John S, Gary W, Gordon, John L and Terry, I think.

The whole day had been pretty perfect weather wise - some sunshine, mostly a bit of cloud and not too hot. In the last race, the three fastest got spread out at the front, but the Lowthers and Gordon and Kirsty had a real fight right to the finish.

All in all, a very good day's racing for most people, with no nasty incidents in either the solo or the sidecar races.

Marianne