British Historic Racing Championship - Cadwell Park – Round 2

Report by DEEGEE Motorsports Photography

13^th - 14^th May 2023

After last weekend’s Historic Sports Car Club’s four-wheel action at Cadwell Park, this weekend saw their two and three-wheel equivalents when the British Historic Racing Club took over the challenging circuit which nestles in the Lincolnshire Wolds.

For me, the narrow track, “remote” Paddock, lack of gravel traps and safety fence at what is my home circuit help to create a sense of nostalgia when historic or classic racing takes place, and the bikes and outfits being ridden somehow look “at home” at the mini-Nürburgring. 

British Historic Racing provides the opportunity for machines, both 2 and 3-wheel, dating back to the 1930’s, 40’s & 50’s, and pre-1990 “Eighties Sports and " Superbike” Classes, for stock, and street-based specials, to have some meaningful and competitive fun “on track”.

With 39 races and numerous qualification/practice sessions planned over the weekend, and full grids in all “events”, as the races are referred to, thanks to each having numerous classes contained within them, it was a very busy two days, with “wall to wall” action throughout.

Last month’s championship opening round held at Mallory Park had taken place below leaden skies and with a cold northerly wind blowing.  The weather at Cadwell was, despite it being the middle of May, just as cold, overcast and grey as proceedings got underway promptly at 9am on Saturday morning. 

On Sunday, the weather once again disappointed initially, with racing being delayed for an hour and a half due to thick fog. However, once the sun broke through it developed into a beautiful warm spring day, as my red nose confirms, with the mercury climbing up the thermometer to a heady 19C.

The racing, as always, provides lots of interest for spectators, with battles for positions in all classes going on all the way down the field.

I grabbed the opportunity to take my camera along on both days and was kept very busy trying to capture the competitive action. 

An insight into the B.E.A.R.S (British, European, American Racing and Supporters) Sidecar Racing

Being an enthusiastic sidecar fan, I always look forward to the three-wheel classes, some of which uniquely for BHR racing, include Morgans and other “cyclecars”, but it is the B.E.A.R.S class who compete in an “event” of their own, which can usually be relied upon to provide the most entertainment.

An opportunity to gain an insight into the machines that compete in this class came, by chance, after I spotted the name of the local company my eldest daughter’s boyfriend works for, on a sidecar outfit I had snapped in an image at Mallory Park.

A few questions later, utilising the wonders of Social Media, and it emerged the sidecar pairing I had captured were brothers Graham and John Birkett, who are amazingly based in the next village to the one I call home!!

It’s a small world, so they say, which became even smaller when I found out that passenger John lives about five minutes’ walk away in my home village. 

The opportunity to investigate these unique outfits, and to find out what it is like to ride them, was simply too good to miss, and so, after contacting the “speedy” siblings, I met up with them last weekend in the Paddock, and again on Monday evening in the local pub, the Nags Head, for a chat.

Both have busy careers in the construction industry from Monday to Friday, but every three or four weeks, from April to September, the excitement builds as the racing weekend draws near.

The pair’s interest in motor-cycle racing, much like mine, developed as a result of regular day trips as children to Cadwell Park with their Dad, but it was not until 2018 that Graham acquired a B.E.A.R.S outfit, which he drove to a creditable sixth place spot in the championship.  On his debut season he received huge encouragement and lots of advice from established B.E.A.R.S top riders Steve Gagg, Scott Whitaker, who he is now competing for the championship with, and multi F1 British Sidecar champion Sean Hegarty, in his first season of competitive action.

After one season his regular passenger decided a career as a “monkey” was not for him, although Graham assured me it wasn’t as a result of his driving.

Consequently, John volunteered to step into his shoes and despite a nasty accident at Darley Moor in a COVID shortened 2019 season, the experience of racing together confirmed it was what they wanted to do.

As a consequence, the pair have been competing together regularly for the last two years in the B.E.A.R.S. Hotrod class, with notable success, finishing third in the championship in both 2021 and 2022, on their red and black BMW K100 replica outfit.

Unlike modern sidecar outfits with their monocoque chassis and streamlined fairings, a B.E.A.R.S outfit, which originally raced in the 1950’s, is an upright motorcycle with a flat “tea tray” sidecar attached to it by a simple tubular framework. 

The only streamlining allowed is a small glass bubble at the front of the sidecar, offering minimal, if any, aerodynamic aid.

To drive one quickly it is essential for the two occupants have complete trust in one another and to operate as a team as they endeavour to keep it finely balanced, to get the considerable amount of power generated by the 1200cc engine through the three narrow tyres in the most effective way. 

Graham (as the “pilot”) has to gauge his use of the outfit’s throttle to ensure it drifts, under control  around corners, whilst John (the “monkey”), acrobatically at times, has to ensure the bike remains upright, with both trying to ensure all three wheels stay on the ground for as much of the time as possible.

It is a highly physical sport, particularly around the sinuous and undulating Cadwell Park circuit, known as the mini-Nurburgring, which makes 56 year-old Graham’s involvement even more remarkable as, after being involved in a car accident in his younger days, in which he broke his back, he takes part despite being paralysed from the waist down.

Younger brother John clearly enjoys the thrill of being a sidecar passenger, something most people would not consider the most relaxing way to spend a Sunday afternoon, and his face lit up with a broad smile as he described the intense buzz he got from riding along at speed just inches off the road surface.

It is definitely hard work riding for both, but it also has to be done alongside 15 to 20 similar outfits, at speeds which can reach almost 100 mph on Cadwell’s Park Straight, all competing to win a race which normally last about twenty minutes.

It didn’t take long, talking them both over a pint, to establish that the pair are very competitive individuals who love their racing weekends. This was confirmed by just the slight hint of resentment towards me when I suggested, bearing in mind the current champion Steve Gash remains unbeaten this season, that they would be targeting second place in the championship.

These boys are definitely “in it to win it” and will be striving for a championship win for as long as it is mathematically possible for them to overcome Steve and his sixteen year old son Charlie, who operates in the “chair”.

This will to win is summed up well by Graham’s determination to overcome his back injury when he took up competitive water-skiing, which he clearly retains a lot of affection for.  Not content with simply taking part he went on to become British Champion, something he is rightly very proud of.

The pair both share an ambition to race on a more modern sidecar outfit, but despite the much appreciated support they get from their families, Butch’s wife Claire (Signs Express),who has helped with  “Birkett’s 66” clothing and flags, friends and sponsors Endotec and Warne Haulage, the costs, at the moment, make that look unlikely, with B.E.A.R.S racing being one of the cheapest ways to take part in competitive three-wheel action.

The B.E.A.R.S sidecar “family”, which Graham and John are very much part of, create an atmosphere by all in the Paddock that is friendly and welcoming and summed up by the willingness of competitors who voluntarily make replacement parts available to their rivals should they suffer a problem with their outfit. 

Standing by on race days to carry out any repairs on their outfit is Graham and John’s trusty “spannerman” Butch, who together with Graham, ensures the outfit remains reliable. This is an important factor in the race for championship honours on these “historic” machines, carrying out any mechanical work needed on the outfit, either at the racetrack or at home in the workshop. 

A couple of further interesting “mechanical” facts emerged from our chat, which I think are worth sharing.

The first was that, even on the longest straight they compete on during the season, at Derbyshire’s Darley Moor circuit, the long gearing of the outfit means they never use top (5^th) gear.

The other is that, as a neat way of saving costs, the pairing purchase “used” tyres from their solo BHR compatriots when they’ve no further use for them.

The reason?  Because the solos lean to get their bikes around corners they only wear the sides of the tyres, leaving the centre, which is the section the sidecar crew use the most, virtually new.

Ingenuity to save costs perfectly illustrated!

It was ironic therefore that tyres, and in particularly the sidecar tyre, was a significant factor over the four races held over the weekend.

Having practised on what was a very worn sidecar tyre, which resembled a “slick”, it was understandably replaced.

Unfortunately, the replacement tyre offered little grip in both races held on Saturday, possibly as a result of the very cold track surface temperature, which created lots of problems, and resulted in an excursion onto the grass on the exit to Charlies on the 3^rd lap of the five-lapper.  As a consequence, the pair slipped back to 5^th place overall (3^rd in Class), when the chequered flag fell.

The second race of the day followed a similar pattern with the tyre continuing to give problems but the pair battled on regardless, recording a fine, but distant 3^rd place overall (2^nd in Class).

The benefits of living only twenty minutes from Cadwell Park gave Graham the opportunity to drive home on Saturday night to pick up another replacement sidecar tyre, and, as a result, the pair were much more competitive in Sunday’s two outings. 

A good ride to 4^th place (3^rd in Class) in Race 3 of the weekend was followed by what looked like a similar result in their final race of the weekend, but as they crested The Mountain on the final lap, the bike inexplicably jumped out of gear, enabling several outfits to overtake on the run to Hall Bends, resulting in the slightly disappointing 6^th place overall (4^th in Class) final result of the weekend.

Nonetheless, the pair came away from the weekend well satisfied with their performances, and retained second place in the championship, within striking distance of the Gagg/Gagg combination.

The B.E.A.R.S racing season contains seven rounds, with 4 races generally held each weekend, as part of the British Historic Championship.

The pair will next be in action at Pembrey, on the south-west coast of Wales, hoping for another good points haul to keep up their challenge for the ‘Hotrods’ title.  :DEEGEE: Motorsport Photography will be following their progress with interest (a good excuse to get down to the pub again), and catching up with them at Cadwell again for the International Sidecar Revival in August.

Mick Pennell Racing

Also competing over the weekend, after one of his most successful weekends in his 10-year riding career last week at Pembrey in Wales at the Classic Racing Motorcycle Club meeting, was “The Northern Monkey” and Pistonclick’s “adopted” grassroots rider Mick Pennell.

A series of good results in all of the eight races he had participated in last week on the south coast of the Principality meant his confidence was sky high, particularly following his exploits at Mallory Park last month, when he had begun the defence of his BHR Over 50’s Championship title with a win. 

You might think Mick would welcome the opportunity of a relatively quiet two days last weekend that included only five scheduled outings, but, full of enthusiasm, and buoyed by his recent successes, he took a day off work and booked himself on a Track Day on Friday at the Lincolnshire track. 

The lessons learned on the Track Day meant Mick started his first race with some prior knowledge of track conditions, which now include a newly surfaced section for the circuit’s famous Mountain section.

The lessons he learned from the track day were put to good use as Mick won his class in all four Glenway TPM Championship races held over the weekend and kept his bid to retain the Over 50’s title on-track with a steady ride to 2^nd place on-track (4th on corrected time).

He even managed to squeeze in a couple of visits to the commentary box between races, backing up regular commentators Jono Yardley and Rusty Lee, with a rider’s point of view on proceedings. 

Mick, Graham and John are just three of hundreds of “grass roots” riders and passengers, who compete most weekends, and continue to provide entertainment, despite the current cost-of-living issues, to spectators and photographers alike.

Long may it continue.

Finally, a big thank you to the “Orange Army”, the marshals, who fulfil such an important role on race day, and who continue to give up their time for free.

Next weekend  :DEEGEE: Motorsport will be making a journey south on the M1 to Donington Park for some BSB action, and after the cancellation of the first race of the British Sidecar Championship at Oulton Park recently, getting the opportunity, finally, to catch some images of some modern three-wheelers, in, if the weather forecasters are correct, some long overdue, warm sunshine. 

You can see more of :DEEGEE: Motorsport Photography here.