This weekend will see the opening round of the ACU British Sidecar Speedway Championship, promoted by ACU Events take place at Leicester’s Beaumont Park Stadium. With a full line up of crews in the 1000cc Sidecar class and a supporting line up of 500cc Sidecars include former European Champions Josh Goodwin and Liam Brown, there is sure to be plenty of action.
Heading the line up on his 1000cc machine is Rugby’s Mark Cossar who will be in action at the first round of the 2017 British Sidecar Speedway Championships.
Mark will be competing with his passenger Carl Blyth at Leicester’s Beaumont Park Stadium on Saturday, a venue which will host its first sidecar speedway event following track refurbishment over the winter months.
A wider track has allowed the more spacious sidecar motorcycles the space to race, and Leicester will host the first of a four round British title.
Mark – the elder of the Cossar brothers – enters the opening rounds as one of the favourites to win the series.
The four-time British Masters Grasstrack Champion said: “It’s always a challenge to ride at a new track for the first time. But I’m looking forward to it.”
“With Brandon unavailable, I hope that race fans in Rugby will be keen to make the short trip up to Leicester for some rare sidecar speedway action.”
Having previously competed on the shale with a grasstrack bike, younger brother Tom Cossar has this year invested in a fully-fledged sidecar speedway machine.
His new equipment means he could mount his best bid yet for a national title against the sport’s top flight riders.
Both Tom and Mark can expect tough opposition from the ever consistent Paul Whitelam from Nottingham, himself a former British Masters Champion. Other local crews include Matt Fumarola (Birmingham) and Gaz Williams (Rugby), Stef Blyth (Leicester) and Sam Fumarola (Birmingham) whilst the Winterburns from Yorkshire, Tris and Billy will be more than keen to strike a blow against the brothers.
The first race on Saturday night starts at 7pm with gates opening at 6pm.
Following rounds in the series take place at Somerset on June 9, Kings Lynn on July 14, and Belle Vue on October 14.