The penultimate and fifth round in the 2024 season took place amidst a weekend of sidecar nostalgia at Cadwell park in Lincolnshire.
Friday was an official practice day for those teams who registered interest in some last-minute testing before the three points-scoring races over the weekend. It was very hot and humid, giving cause to hope the race days would be better. That turned out to be the case.
A good turn-out included all the top runners in the current points table, plus reigning world champions Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clement, and former and eight-times world champion Tim Reeves with Mark Wilkes alongside. Other world championship contestants out to impress were the Christie brothers Sam and Tom, and Kevin Cable/Charlie Richardson.
All these big names having an occasional ride, were bound to cause problems for the dedicated British Championship regulars. Saturday was indeed much cooler, with qualifying set to be late morning, and the first of three races later in the afternoon. However, the weather took a turn for the worse as free practice loomed, with several top teams choosing not to go out. Steady rain persisted for most of the morning ahead of qualifying.
Continue reading