Classic Sidecar RacingEaurouge Sidecars

Jun 26th Camathias Cup East Fortune

To this years ‘home round’ for us, just the 315 miles! (OK there is one round closer but we cannot make that one). With the SatNav set North we set off (we won’t mention the 2 hours stationary on the A1M due to the road being closed).

As we pulled into East Fortune, not really knowing what to expect we found a lovely traditional British circuit. Based on an old airfield, but with some benefits over many other circuits (well we could plug in for a start!).

So what had changed since Assen. A complete brake rebuild or 2, new helmets to bring us up to the latest specs, a complete rebuild of the sidecar, adjustments to the engine and Marks usual bits and pieces!

First practice at East Fortune was interesting…. as it was only then that Graeme noticed that they had forgotten to bring something with them…. yep one of the grab bars was missing! The thought had been about removing it as it was not used much…. this turned out to not be the case! Some care on the first practice to avoid Mark wondering what was going on, the explanation for the second practice, and the use of the driver as a climbing frame helped to improve the lap times.

Pretty soon it was Race 1 of the sidecars which also included the Camathias cup. With confusion at our first race start that the sidecar didn’t pull strong in first! Turns out 1st is a bit too high geared. we performed our usual outstanding and finished just 1 lap down, but still learning about the bike. Race 2 (That’s right 4 sessions in 1 day!) went in a similar manor with a bit of a better start by trying to let the clutch and rear wheel slip….

Sunday dawned with 4 races due on the day! The races were all shortened with the threat of thunderstorms in the afternoon (they did happen literally as we drove out the circuit!). The first race of the day went well, with the team confused by the lack of sidecars on the grid, maybe a few too many sidecars had hangovers from the Saturday night hospitality! We finished last again, but much closer to the main field, including a very brief dice.

The Camathias Cup followed not much later, again a smaller group of sidecars, a brief try to hang on the back of the pack for about 2 laps before the minor errors of going beyond our abilities crept in and the pack slipped away.

Race 3 followed straight after, unfortunately we where still changing brake pads with our experimental brake compounds when called to the grid. This gave us the chance to view the other outfits lines, and to learn from the side!

Race 4 of the Bob Mac Cup was soon on us, with the timings all compressed due to the upcoming storm! We went for it off the line, and got concerned after the 3rd lap as something was hitting the visors, soon we both realised it was rain not oil so kept going at pace, we missed our unofficial goal of not getting lapped by about 200 yards! The amount learnt, the improvement made over getting through chicanes will hopefully help us for the next round.

With some research to do on the gearbox, and if you see us remind us to take the grab handle! Schleiz is in 2 weeks, and Chimay the week after

To go next to the DNF from Assen we now have a 3rd in class.

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