International Sidecar Revival 2019
International Sidecar Revival
Cadwell Park
Since watching the sidecars screaming around the 37 mile course at this year's Isle of Man Tourist Trophy my interest in this type of motorsport has increased somewhat. I think the reason was that we had a great start to the TT, then it rained and there was no racing for three days. When the weather cleared the Birchall brothers were riding the first bike I had seen for a while and I managed to get what was to be one of my favourite shots of the meeting with the first press of my cameras shutter button.
When I found out they were going to be at Cadwell for the International Sidecar Revival I picked this event over a few others and headed for the track to see some more three wheel action. I had low expectations of this event, expecting it to be one of those low attendance race meeting that happen all too often these days at tracks all around the UK.
How wrong was I? There was a significant queue to get in and I had to park that far from the track I might as well have walked from home - slight exaggeration but you get the idea.
I enjoy the dramatic racing, the wheel in the air action and the worried looks on the passengers' faces that sidecars always deliver. I just wasn’t expecting so many other people to have the same view point.
Sitting on the open boot of my car having a brew before I set off for the day's shoot, I took in a great view of the paddock, being parked at the very end of it, and packed is a bit of an understatement. The last time I saw so many people tinkering with machinery and revving engines was at last year's British Super Bikes.
I skipped walking the paddock and went straight to track side as the announcer was calling the competitors for the next event of the day - the F2 sidecars. Heading for Hall Bends, one of the first round the corner and looking very fast were Pete Founds and Jevan Walmsley in the LCR Suzuki. They were fast all day, breaking the Cadwell lap record and went onto to win all three F2 races over the weekend.
The event was billed as the International Sidecar Revival but there was plenty of two wheeled action as well. The ACU Team Green Junior Cup and Senior Ninja Series was also taking place. The first three riders were obviously fast and stood out. They were also happy to do a bit of show boating later on once they had spotted me lurking in the shrubbery.
In the Junior Class Elliot Dufton on bike 44 and Ash Barns sporting number 0 shared two wins a piece over the weekend. With Lewis Jones on bike number 3 getting onto the podium, taking a second and two thirds and unfortunately a DNF. In the Senior Class Tony Davis on the number 14 machine was dominant but on the PistonClick site we like to give the up and coming a stage as well.
We caught up with Joe White taking part in the ACU Team Green Junior Cup to get his view from the track.
"My last race at Cadwell was a wet one and I was running safely as the 3rd Junior. I had a big gap from the person in-front of me and from the person behind me, but sadly I lost the front going round Barn on the second to last lap. From there I lost my confidence and have since been trying to build it back up. On the test day my best time was a 2:08 which was 4 seconds off of my best.
On race day 1 I got down to a 2:03. then in the second race of the day I did a 1:59.7 and had a good battle with Kevin Sabarton and Dave Sharman. On race day 2 I started off by running consistent 2:01 and running my own race. Race 2 I had an amazing start and managed to do about 8-10 people into turn 1.
I led them for a few laps but slowly I got pasted and left behind as they were quicker riders. I had some great battles with Harry cooper, David Court and Paul Wilson while putting in consistent 1:59 and dropping my best time down to a 1:58.2. It was a great finish to a great weekend and the confidence is starting to come back."
Rob Atkinson was taking part in the ACU / FSRA British F2 Sidecar races representing the Royal Air Force Motorsports Association. He was piloting the great looking Red 26, it just needed some coloured smoke billowing out of the back to finish it off.
He also penned a few words for us.
Race one
We got off to a flying start and managed to jump into first cup position by the first corner, pushed hard to try and make a gap and managed to hold onto it until the end of the race. First cup bike and sixth overall! With the reverse grid system in place that result put us on pole for the next race on Sunday.
Photo credit Dirk Wharton
Race two
Sunday proved to be a bit more of a complicated day. 3 laps into practice the rear wheel bearing let go, meaning we had a lot of work to do to try and get us out for the first race. I can't thank the team enough for their efforts Martin Atkinson Matty Atkinson Stuart Bell and John Smith all worked as hard as they could and got the bike back together.
Unfortunately by the time we got down to the holding bay the grid was just forming up and we weren't allowed to join - two minutes too late! This meant we would be starting the final race of the weekend at the back of the grid.
Race three
Starting from the back of the grid was a huge challenge. The lads at the front of the field in the cup had been putting in some seriously quick times all weekend and we knew it would be difficult to get anywhere near them. From the word go we pushed hard to try and not lose too much ground, slowly working our way through the field until eventually we had the leaders in sight. We made our move into park corner and took the lead.
Exhausted by this point, we had to do everything we could to hold off Simon Robinson on bike 19, who by the flag finished only 0.5 seconds behind us. One of the hardest ,most enjoyable races I've ever been involved in. Absolutely loved it!!!
After our issues on Sunday morning we genuinely thought that our weekend was over but thanks to our fantastic team and the help of one of the best paddocks around we were able to keep on going. We had to beg and borrow, and everyone we came to were more than willing to help.
A massive thank you to Doug Chandler for the loan of the wheel bearings we needed, Conrad Harrison for the loan of tools, Jen Stainton and Giles for the help with all sorts of issues all weekend - you guys are life savers! And Simon Robinson, the championship leader and the man we were trying to beat for the loan of tools also.
It really reminded me why I love this sport. Rather than been happy that another competitor was out of the picture, everyone chipped in to get us back on the grid. In what other motorsport would that happen? Fantastic, a massive thanks to you all again!!"
Also repressing the RAFMSA was Andrew Green in the GP Original, another two wheel race series joining in at the Revival Meeting. These classic 250 and 350cc Yamaha two strokes were out in force with over thirty laying a blue haze around the rolling hills of Cadwell.
Rich Grinling, like Green, was riding a 250cc machine amongst the 350s and went on to a first and second place in class over the weekend. Number 24, Phil Atkinson on the Rose MOT Centre Yamaha was to take both GP Original race and 350 class wins.
Adding to the haze were the DFDS Yamaha Past Masters. The RD, TZR, YPVS and TDR of the 1980s. These bikes were the hooligan bikes of the time and are not seen much on the road these days, commanding a fair amount of coin for a one in good condition, so it was great to see them on track.
Taking in the clean air at the front was 13 Doug Edmondson on the Stan Stephens Tuning Yamaha.
Stephens was to go onto win three of the four races with a DNF on the last race. Just behind him were 24 Scott Carson and 19 Peter Branton who were to have quite a battle in the first three races. Branton also had a DNF on the final race which Carson went on to win.
During the lunch break there were demo laps from Grand Pix legends from the past who took to their sidecars once again, accompanied by the latest GP machinery.
Once they had cleared the track it was time for the historic solo bikes to stretch their legs. There was an eclectic mix of machines on display, from 500cc two stroke GP bikes to classic British iron.
I really enjoyed seeing these machines once again and followed them to the paddock to get some detail shots as the bikes and riders cooled down.
All this two wheel action was all well and good but we had come to see the sidecars. There was the latest kit on show as well as the classic four stroke machines of the Camathias Cup European Classic Series.
The Cup is named after Florian Camathias who was a professional Grand Prix and Sidecar racer who sadly died in a sidecar crash at Brands Hatch in 1965 - remembered here in this race series.
These classic machines were great to watch with lots of wheel up action. Winning both races were Bellas and Quirk on the BLR IMP 12000 number 4 machine. In second and third were Wright / Clarke and Thirkell / Johnson both using BMWs.
In the main event the Molson Group British Sidecar Championship it was Ellis and Richardson in the Santander Salt Honda who were to take race one. Starting on pole position for race two they led from start to finish and to cap off a great weekend for them going on to win the final race of the weekend.
The Championship results were repeated for the next races with Ellis and Richardson taking the win, followed by bike 3, Holden and Cain in the LCR Kawasaki - SBR with Blackstock and Rosney taking the final podium place in third.
That concludes our coverage of the celebration of 70 years of sidecar championships from the International Sidecar Revival. We had two shooters out for this event and will be back out to cover this great sidecar show next year. Graeme Taylor Images was using the latest Nikon D500 matched to a Sigma 70-200mm APO DG HSM and a Sigma 17-50 F2.8 EX HSM.
I used the Nikon D7200 with a Nikon 18-140mm kit lens and a 80-200mm F2.8. We will be doing more testing with the 18-140mm kit lens over the next few months - look out for our report.
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Thanks to Graeme Taylor Images and Dirk Wharton for the great pictures and helping out on this project. Check out Dirk Wharton Facebook
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You can check out more of Graeme Taylor Images work in the Photographers section and at his his website.
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