Official Media release from RKB-F1Motorsport & Eastern Airways British Sidecar Championship

 

 

Double Eastern Airways Scotch, for Hegarty and Neave at Knockhill 27-29^th June

With the promise of live TV on Sunday, and a mid-afternoon slot Saturday, combined with the tight nature of the Knockhill circuit, round three was always going to be spectacular. Whilst on paper, another double victory for the Felixtowe based Sean Hegarty might look a yawn, nothing could be further from the truth.

Race One – Pre-race rain gave many crews a dilemma with tyres. As it happened, a wet tyre choice wasthe wrong one, and several teams paid the price. From his first-ever Eastern Airways pole position, Tony Brown/Ashley Hawes slotted into third behind Hegarty and Roger Lovelock/Aki Alto. It then became a two-horse race at the front with several passing moves from each. The run down to the hairpin had the crowd on its toes, each and every lap, with Sean Hegarty hanging on for the tightest of victories at the flag. There was frantic action all down the field, and a great scrap between Craig Chaplow/Patrick Farrance and the Ben Bygrave/Justin Sharpe combination. Andy Peach, despite a back-row start and problems mid-race, recovered the L&W BMW eighth ahead of Grabmuller. Ben Holland/Lee Watson (Finning Cat Kawasaki) fell victim to a wrong tyre choice but claimed a few points behind Ricky Stevens/Ryan Charlwood (AOS Kawasaki).

Race Two – Hegarty was fired up, and starting from pole, was in determined mood for this one. After early laps pressure, he was never headed, and made it a comfortable win by eleven seconds. Lovelock again showed his class and consistency with another podium in second, and Tony Brown retired on lap six when his front mudguard came adrift. The story of the race however, and thrilling for the live TV audience, was the charge of Andy Peach through the field from eighth on the grid. What looked like a certain podium for Ben Bygrave, was snatched from under his nose by a whisker at the flag, just ahead of Craig Chaplow. Again, this was an action packed affair, and met with complete appreciation of hugely enthusiastic Scottish sidecar fans. Ben Holland salvaged some points from the back of the grid and the Austrian Grabmuller again recorded a solid result to maintain his consistency in the standings.

Race One Result -1/Hegarty/Neave (Hegarty Suzuki) 2/Lovelock/Alto (Driverwolf Laxton BMW)3/Brown/Hawes (Paymundo.com Yamaha) 4/Bygrave/Sharpe (Blue Machinery Suzuki) 5/Chaplow/Farrance (E-Aide Motorsport Kawasaki) 6/BarryJames/Sam Christie (James Racing) 7/Mark Edwards/Lee Barrett (AOS Kawasaki) 8/ Peach Richardson (L&W BMW)

Race Two Result – 1/ Hegarty/Neave 2/ Lovelock Alto 3/ Peach/Richardson 4/ Bygrave/Sharpe 5/ChaplowFarrance 6/James/Christie 7/Edwards/Barrett 8/Holland/Watson 9/ Kershaw/Wilson 10/Grabmuller/Lawson

Standings – Hegarty 170, Lovelock 132, Peach 95, Edwards 81, Chaplow 76, Brown 56, Holland 52Grabmuller 49, Bygrave 46, Stevens 45, Kershaw 36, Holden 29, James 26.

Round Four comes from Brands Hatch 18-20^th July

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Raptor Racing Paymundo, Brands Hatch Report

With the new season finally here, Raptor Racings Paymundo F1 sidecar team of driver Tony Brown and passenger Ashley Hawes couldn’t wait to get started over the Bank Holiday weekend. With more track time and three races over four days it would be a busy time for the team at the 1.2 mile Brands Hatch Indy circuit.

Qualifying was a fast and frantic affair on the Wallace interiors LCR and with 21 outfits Tony was acutely aware than he could easily get caught up in traffic over the short fast circuit. He didn’t though,  qualifying in a superb third less than half a second behind pole sitter Andy Peach and Charlie Richardson.

Race one didn’t disappoint for the Raptor boys. Settling into fourth place behind Mark Edwards and Lee Barrett, Tony was right with them. On lap 13 at Paddock Hill Mark went wide and Tony took his chance and finished in third spot. Tony and Ash were thrilled with the result finishing third with their 10 year old Yamaha R1 engine. Tony paid tribute to Sam Christie who welded part of his steering just before the start of the race.

Sunday’s race two didn’t even start. In some of the wettest conditions seen at the circuit the sidecars were on their warm up laps but it was so wet they were aquaplaning so it was decided that it was too dangerous to race and the race would be carried over till Monday. In glorious conditions and in front of a large BSB crowd the dinner time 12 lap race was a fast and furious affair. The battle for first was neck and neck between eventual winners Roger Lovelock and Aki Alto and Sean Hegarty and James Neave. Tony and Ash battled well with Craig Chaplow and Patrick Farrance and finished in fifth place losing out by less than half a second. Tony was disappointed to have not been closer to a podium but as he said the tyres had been used more than once and were causing him grip problems.

Race 3 didn’t bring the team any more success. On lap four whilst entering Graham Hill bend the engine on their Yamaha powered outfit seized causing it to spin and stop in the middle of the track. Fortunately the teams behind Tony and Ash were fully aware and made some great avoiding moves. Talk about being the rabbit in the headlights.

The pair were disappointed but have plenty of time before the next round at Snetterton to get the engine repaired. No doubt this will make them more determined than ever knowing that they can run with the top five in the championship.

The team would like to thank
http://www.paymundo.com
Wallace Interior Solutions
Pagid
Keith Whiting
Ian Hamilton
Herne Bay Motorcycles
Infinity Pro
Jennifer Shone at Knox
John Mcqueen at LS2
Ros and Lawrence Tumber
Surlingham Solutions
Wurth
AMR Exhausts
Sam Christie
Ross , Russ and Ryan
Of course John Mushet for the fantastic work behind the scenes. Thanks Mate

All the friends and family that have supported the team

SOURCE

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