The opening round of the 2024 British Sidecar Championship at the Pembrey Circuit got the season underway in fine style. Many of the teams were seeing the South Wales venue for the first time, so exploratory laps were needed to get them up to speed. Free practice gave them that opportunity and set them up nicely for qualifying. With three races on the card, it was going to be a valuable weekend in terms of early points.
An alternative event kept several World Championship teams away from Pembrey, but Steve Kershaw/Ryan Charlwood, to name but one top crew, have pledged to attend all other rounds in search of the British title.
The practice took place in damp, difficult conditions, and the sixteen-strong grid did eight laps in the one and only free session. Andy Peach and Ken Edwards emerged top of the pile, ahead of Lewis Blackstock/Paddy Rosney and Clarke/Ensor. The weekend was to see a tight final points situation between the entire GP class field headed by George Holden and Oscar Lawrence, but the big surprise came in the shape of Cup contenders Sam and Jack Laidlow as they took a clean sweep of the class.
Qualifying
Track conditions had improved, but it was still damp as the outfits took to the tarmac in search of grid position in a twenty-minute session. One race lay ahead of them in the afternoon, with two more on the schedule for Sunday. The rain then returned, but despite this, lap times improved. The entire field was on slicks, but the red flag came out when Craig Hauxwell broke down.
At the restart – everyone had fitted wets to cope with the deteriorating conditions. The Laidlow brothers looked very good, holding a top spot throughout. Then it happened, as Blackstock/Rosney hit the top, going sub-one-minute.
Over half-way through the session, and they were the team to beat. The Laidlow brothers were still knocking at the door, looking very much a class act for the future, along with Holden/Lawrence on their Kawasaki never far out of the hunt. With four minutes left on the clock, Luke Williams/Jason Pitt moved second, just one-tenth behind Blackstock. The top four were split by just three-tenths, with two minutes remaining. Paul and Tom Kirby moved fifth fastest, carrying forward their form from 2023. They were narrowly ahead of Rob Biggs/Ferry Segers. Ricky Stevens/Wayne Stevens improved on the new Ryde chassis to finish eighth behind John Holden/Liam Gordon.
With three classes doing battle in the same race, it would be a very mixed picture until the close of play when all scores would be revealed by class.
Race One
From the lights it was a frantic charge to turn one, with Blackstock/Rosney heading straight into a lead which they were never to lose. They were in dominant form throughout with consistent lap times. Behind them, there was a spirited performance from Sam and Jack Laidlow who fought a race-long battle with Luke Williams/Jason Pitt. Fourth pace for most of the race was occupied by the Holden Racing Kawasaki of George Holden and Oscar Lawrence. They inherited the final podium place when the Willams/Pitt Yamaha suffered clutch problems, dropping them down to tenth at the flag. Rob Biggs/Ferry Segers (Express Tyres/Santander Salt Yamaha) scrapped tooth and nail with Paul and Tom Kirby, finishing just behind Holden, but three seconds clear of the Kirby ARS Yamaha. Former double champion Ricky Stevens, along with brother Wayne, was markedly improved over his return last season on the new Ryde chassis. They made sixth place their own, as their confidence grew. Andy Peach/Ken Edwards were handicapped by Andy’s recent replacement knee surgery, with Andy in a degree of discomfort.
With two more race to come, signs were good for the Laidlows and Luke Williams/Pitt, both crews having shown themselves more than capable of taking the fight to Blackstock/Rosney. Holden/Lawrence were once again consistent, taking third place.
Race One Result
1/ Lewis Blackstock/Paddy Rosney (DHR Yamaha)
2/ Sam/Jack Laidlow (Marin Motorsport Yamaha)
3/ George Holden/Oscar Lawrence (Holden Racing Kawasaki)
4/ Rob Biggs/Ferry Segers (Express Tyres/Santander Salt Yamaha)
5/ Paul/Tom Kirby (ARS Yamaha)
6/ Ricky/Wayne Stevens (Ryde WPS Racing Yamaha)
7 /John Holden/Liam Gordon (Holden Racing Yamaha LCR)
8/ Craig Clarke/Peter Ensor (Honda LCR)
9/ Ryan/Callum Crowe (LCR Yamaha)
10/ Luke Williams/Jason Pitt (LCR Yamaha).
Race Two
It was a case of “déjà vu” for Blackstock/Rosney when the lights went out in this one. They were going to make no mistake in grabbing maximum points advantage as they shot into the lead.
In the Cup class, the Laidlow brothers held their heads high with another strong start, slotting into second spot and giving chase. Into third went Williams/Pitt with George Holden/Oscar Lawrence once again tucking into fourth. The Stevens brothers have improved immensely since the 2023 debut of the Ryde, and they were having an inspired ride ahead of Biggs/Segers and the Kirbys, who were later to suffer with tyre issues.
Lap after lap they circulated in this order, as Blackstock eased into a five or six second lead. On lap ten, Williams attacked the Laidlow outfit, grabbing second spot, which he was to hold to the flag.
New Cup contenders, Atkinson/Smith did a great job getting to terms with the long bike to bring it home in tenth place. At the flag, six seconds was the winning margin for Blackstock/Rosney. They were having a great weekend with one more race to do. Holden/Lawrence had stayed in tough the whole race and once again, bagged solid points.
Race Two Result
1/ Blackstock/Rosney
2/ Williams/Pitt
3/ Laidlow/Laidlow
4/ Holden/Lawrence
5/ Stevens/Stevens
6/ Holden/Gordon
7/ Biggs/Segers
8/ Kirby/Kirby
9/ Clarke/Ensor
10/ Atkinson/Smith
Race Three
All ideas of a maximum went out of the window for Lewis Backstock when the DHR Yamaha failed to complete the green flag lap having developed gearbox problems. Just twelve outfits came to the line, but when the cat’s away, the mice will play, and play they did. Sam and Jack Laidlow got a terrific start to lead from the lights, but there was nothing mouselike about their dominance. The brothers have arrived on the scene in style, sending a clear message to the field they are here to stay. Williams/Pitt were right on their tails, with Biggs/Segers having their best ride this weekend in third. Then came
Clarke/Ensor and the Stevens brothers.
Next time around, it was status quo for the top three, but Stevens moved fourth with Kirby going with him. Clarke had dropped back two places, but still hung in. Next up were the Crowe brothers on their F2 outfit.
Lap five, and Williams had gone from second place with brake problems, dropping back to around ninth place giving himself plenty of work to do.
Rob Biggs/Ferry Segers took over behind the Laidlows, with a sensational effort by Ricky Stevens to go third, but under pressure from an attacking Paul and Tom Kirby. This battle raged all race-long with George Holden/Oscar Lawrence and Craig Clarke/Pete Ensor also very much in this mix.
Williams/Pitt were playing catch-up, but their problems persisted. They eventually finished in sixth place, second in GP class.
Kirby passed Biggs, claiming second on the road and in class, but Rob Biggs took his first GP class victory as the Laidlow brothers made it a clean Cup sweep. George Holden’s third place in class was enough to give him the GP class overall lead at the close of play.
Two victories for Ryan and Callum Crowe gave them the lead in the F2 class.
Race Three Result
1/ Laidlow/Laidlow
2/ Kirby/Kirby
3/ Biggs/Segers
4/ Stevens/Stevens
5/ Clarke/Ensor
6/ Willams/Pitt
7/ Holden/Lawrence
8/ Crowe/Crowe
9/ Holden/Gordon
10/ Atkinson/Smith
Championship standings
GP Class
Holden/Lawrence 62
Biggs/Segers 61
Williams/Pitt 60
Holden/Gordon 54
Blackstock/Rosney 50
Cup Class
Laidlow/Laidlow 75
Kirby/Kirby 64
Stevens/Stevens 62
Clarke/Ensor 54
Atkinson/Smith 44
Nicol/Conil 16
Peach/Edwards 14
F2 Class
Crowe/Crowe 50
Founds/Gibbons 47
Pearson/Restall 42
From Barry Nutley, with acknowledgement to Jed Pilmoor-Brady.
Stay with us across the year for all news and reports as they happen here on www.britishsidecarchampionship.co.uk.
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