Yesterday the final round of the 2014 Maxxis British Sidecarcross championships took place at the Sidcup clubs Canada Heights circuit near Swanley in Kent. After heavy rain on Saturday afternoon the track conditions were very good on Sunday with no need for watering all day.
Although the championship had already been won by Stuart Brown / Josh Chamberlain the fight for second was still very much on and it wasn’t finally settled until the very last race of the day.
In timed practice Brown was fastest by nearly two seconds from Daniel & Joe Millard with Brett Wilkinson / Steve Kirwin third.
In race one Brown took the holeshot from Wilkinson with Millard in third. A pile up on the first corner involving about six outfits took out the Irish team of Campbell / Graham and Bowers / Curnow. Millard made a mistake on the third lap and was overtaken by Jarvis / Humphrey. He closed the gap on Jarvis and after five laps was in his wheel tracks but could not get past.
These four remained in these positions to the flag with Etheridge / Grahame fifth and Keane / Horton sixth. This result meant Wilkinson was now in second place in the championship just three points ahead of Millard.
The second leg saw Pelling / Cuff take the holeshot from Wilkinson, Brown and Millard. As the teams went to the bottom of the circuit Wilkinson was now leading from Millard and Brown with Pelling now fourth. By the third lap the gap between the front three had closed right up and on lap four Brown passed Millard and closed on Wilkinson. Just after half distance Brown made a mistake and Millard passed him to take second place. Although Brown closed the gap on Millard in the last couple of laps he was unable to get past and had to settle for third with Wilkinson taking the win. In the battle for second place in the championship Wilkinson was now six points in front of Millard.
In the final race of the year Millard chose to start from the very left hand side of the start gate and this tactic worked as he emerged in front after turn one. Pelling again got an excellent start and was second with Wilkinson third and Brown fourth. On the third lap Brown was up to second place and one lap later he was in the lead with Millard now second and Wilkinson third. This was how they finished with Jarvis fourth and Bradford / Peters fifth.
Brown took the overall win from Wilkinson with Millard in third place. These were also the same positions they finished in the final championship table.
Words and Photos by Chris Helm