Tuesday February 5, 2013 at 4:05pm
Robin and Sam Luscombe braved the Irish Sea to contend the opening events on Saturday and Sunday for the British Sidecar Trials Championship. The father and son team took second place to Manx contestants Nigel Crellin and Chris Molyneux on Saturday in the Andy Smith Trophy Trial but only lost the victory by two penalty points.
In the very cold weather on Sunday Team Luscombe turned the tables on Crellin and Molyneux in the David Craine Trophy trial by exactly the same amount of penalties. The Manxmen were expected to give the multi champion a tough test, and they certainly did just that. Last year Robin and Sam missed the Manx event, but still won the sidecar championship. They now share the lead in the series with Crellin and Molyneux. Luscombe predicted that James Teare and Jane Birchall would be serious rivals and sure enough the Manx pair took third overall with a fourth and third place.
Rupert and Chris Kimber again took an early bath when their machine developed mechanical problems. Reading’s Daryl Dale and girlfriend Hannah Etherington rode to a double victory over David Tuck and Steven Chandler on Sunday. Tuck and Scrivens finished in reverse order on Saturday. Rochester’s Robbie Head and Andy Scrivens emerged as clubman leaders after taking runner-up spot on the rostrum to Manxmen Stephen and Sam Corlett on Saturday and Nigel Scott and Jay Ashley-Hall on Sunday.
The problems that struck the Kimbers spilled over when Dave Nourish and passenger Andy Wright rectified a blown head gasket. Steve Radford and Les Ashby’s Beta also suffered problems on Saturday that terminated their attack. Douglas Christian and Marc Maler stopped with a collapsed front wheel on the Gas Gas outfit. Worst exit befell Stuart Bedford who broke and arm in Dhoon Quarry on Saturday.
The series heads for the West Country on the first weekend in March. The West of England Motor Club will stage the Andy Cheeseman Trial on March 2 centred on Bovey Tracy. The following day the championship moves to St Austell for the Colin Dommett Trial presenting a fine double header in Cornwall.