After their superb third place finish at the previous round, Raptor Racings’ Paymundo F1 sidecar team made the trip to the 2.3 mile circuit of Thruxton in Hampshire for the fifth round of the Eastern Airways British Sidecar championship. The schedule was for three eight lap races over the weekend of the 1st to the 3rd August 2014. This is a change from previous seasons when there has been two 12 lap races. Due to the nature of the track and excessive demands on riders, it was decided to shorten the laps and add an extra race.
Driver Tony Brown and passenger Ashley Hawes have never raced at Thruxton before so they knew they would have a difficult task to repeat the podium from a few weeks ago. This circuit is extremely fast in most of the sections taking its toll on the machines and the passengers. The main aim for the team was to finish all 3 races, as so far, technical issues have held them back from achieving this. One short practice session on Friday, meant Tony and Ash had little time to learn the track and get the perfect setup for the bike. After practice, the team discovered the engine had been running hot and there was a water leak so the rest of the afternoon was to be spent repairing hoses. By this point, Tony said he didn’t like the circuit stating that in one part you just have to have a big set of balls due to the speeds they were reaching.
In Saturday mornings qualifying, the team managed a 10th position grid start. They averaged 101 mph, but they knew they would have plenty of work to do if they wanted to move up the field. When race one came about, the weather was unpredictable and as in previous rounds, tyre choice was difficult. The team opted for slicks. Tony and Ash did not get the start off the line they would have liked, and they were swallowed up, dropping to almost the back of the grid! A battle with Gilbert/Allum and consistently faster laps meant they were able to finish in 9th place. Both Tony and Ashley were satisfied with this. Race two took place later that afternoon and with few dramas, a 10th place finish was in the bag.
Two consecutive race finishes meant the team were happy and looking forward to race three. In glorious sunshine for Sunday afternoons third race, and in front of a large British Superbike crowd they settled into a good pace from the start. An action packed race was ahead and a few teams were to drop out of the race leaving Tony and Ash to finish in a strong 7th place. Afterwards, the team felt that the engine was not quite at its strongest and took the decision to remove the engine. Ashley later delivered it to Keith Whiting in the hope he can resolve the demons in time for the next round at Donington in 5 weeks time.
The team are now currently 7th in the championship and would like to thank all their sponsors
http://www.paymundo.com
Ged Canfield Engines
Wallace interior solutions
Pagid
Keith Whiting
Trevor Stafford
Ian Hamilton at Express Tyres
Herne Bay Motorcycles
Infinity Pro
Jennifer Shone at Knox
John Mcqueen at LS2
Ros and Lawrence Tumber
Surlingham Solutions
Wurth
AMR Exhausts
Sam Christie
Sam Ryder
Steve English
Julian Cole
Russ, Ross and the amazing Ryan Anderson for helping out so much with everything. I really appreciate all you do mate and I am glad you’re a part of the team.
And finally, of course, all our family, friends, Beccie and Emma for supporting us in this crazy hobby.
By: John Mushet
PAYMUNDO 