Sidecars at Sandy Lyng

Monday July 22, 2013 at 4:19pm

It came as a bit of a shock when the sidecar teams arrived at Cadders Hill, Lyng to be greeted by drizzle and a distinct drop in temperatures! Norwich Viking MCC hosted round three of the SMCA British Clubman Sidecar Championship in somewhat cooler weather than of late much to the relief of the competitors.

The sandy track was new to a lot of the teams as sidecars hadn’t visited Lyng for three years. Most teams coped with the conditions well although the ruts caught a few out especially where they deepened during the day. The club had watered on the morning and with the weather being a lot less hot, and with no sun to speak of, the track didn’t dry out as expected. The start straight was graded allowing each race to get away cleanly. Cadders Hill itself proved a problem for a few of the lesser experienced teams with race 2 being red flagged twice!

Nick Bowers and Pete Batt were heading the championship from Steve and Chris Pannell going into this round but only by three points. Neither team however had banked on Paul Pelling and James Georges joining the championship who went on to clean up with three wins!

Wayne Delves and Darren Elcocks took the holeshot for race 1 but it wasn’t long before Pelling/ Georges took over at the front and were never headed from that point. As Pelling/Georges pulled away the battle for second was on with Delves/Elcocks being bumped down the order to sixth it was Arthur Walton/Faye Barnes who were battling with Bowers/Batt for second. Behind them Shane Horton/Paul Horton had a bit of a gap back to Mark Banks/Ross Parmenter followed by Delves/Elcocks. The race for second was hotting up and when Bowers/Batt finally got past Walton/Barnes there wasn’t quite as much room as they thought and which left Walton/Barnes tipped up! They got going again and after moving up through the field finally crossed the line in tenth. The Horton brothers began to drop back; a puncture the cause. They finished in eighth but only just with Scott Balsille/Jo Reynolds only a second behind. Pelling/Georges carried on to take the chequered flag as winners with non scoring team of Neil/Mike Franks second on the track. Bowers/Batt remained as second Clubman and Banks/Parmenter in third.

Race 2 and Pelling/Georges took the holeshot and began to pull away from the rest but after seven minutes the race was red flagged when one of inexperienced local teams got stuck on the hill and needed assistance. Pelling/Georges however just repeated their first start in the re-run. They once again pulled away and were never troubled taking the win. Steve/Chris Pannell were making up for a disastrous first race when their chain broke by quickly getting themselves up into second. They passed Bowers/Batt and began to chase after Pelling/Georges. They were passed later in the race by non-scorers Luke Peters/Ian Sheppard but still finished as second place clubmen. Bowers/Batt couldn’t catch back up to them and had to settle for third although by only 0.3 of a second with Stephen Parr/Josh right behind them in fourth. As the leaders began their last lap however another incident on Cadders Hill caused the red flag to come out for a second time. This time a repeat of the first except the outfit of Jon Pannell/Neal Bann came up the hill and found no where to go apart from into the back of the stopped chair. This unfortunately resulted in Bann with a suspected broken collar bone. Walton/Barnes kept their fifth spot and Danny/Lewis Gray, who are in their first full season of sidecar racing, crossed the line in a brilliant sixth place.

Due to the two red flags in the previous race the club took the decision to take out the hill and after a sighting lap the race began with the holeshot once again taken by Pelling/Georges who went on claim their hat trick of wins with a start to finish lead. Delves/Elcocks followed them out of the gate but were soon passed by Pannell/Pannell who were being chased down by Bowers/Batt. Parr/Haynes were on a charge and eventually got by Bowers/Batt before disappearing out the back of the track. They re-emerged near the end of the race to pick up eleventh place. Bowers/Batt continued their chase after Team Pannell but couldn’t catch them but had to ensure the following teams of Delves/Elcocks and Horton/Horton stayed where they were. Further down the field a fine battle for tenth was developing between Jon Pannell, who now had Brian Parr on the side for this race, and the Gray brothers. Very close action resulted in triumph for the Grays and with Parr/Haynes trying to undo the places they had dropped earlier split the crews leaving Pannell/Parr in twelfth.

Despite the overall victory going to Pelling/George the leaders and second place remain the same but with a DNF for Pannell/Pannell in race 1 they are now twenty one points adrift of Bowers/Batt.

A big thank you to Norwich Vikings MCC for hosting the Clubman Sidecar Championship and for a well run meeting.

The next, and unfortunately final round, is at Asham Woods, Frome on 4^th August and with all to race for should be an exciting meeting. For all those sidecar fans out there the twinshock sidecars will also be action with some international teams also in attendance.

Day Results:

1 Paul Pelling/James Georges 75

2 Nick Bowers/Pete Batt 62

3 Wayne Delves/Darren Elcocks 49

4 Steve/Chris Pannell 44

5 Mark Banks/Ross Parmenter 44

6 Arthur Walton/Faye Barnes 42

7 Danny/Lewis Gray 41

8 Barry Lobb/Richard Dixon 40

9 Shane/Paul Horton 35

10 Dave Millard/Paul Bishop 33

Championship Standings: