Championship leaders on fast track to victory (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Championship leaders on fast track to victory

8:50am Tuesday 30th June 2009 in Sport By Graham Merry

KINGSCLERE sidecar passenger Rick Lawrence and Marlborough driver Roger Lovelock – the current 2009 British FSRA Eastern Airways Castrol Oils championship leaders – took part in the NG Road Racing meeting at Thruxton.

This was a chance to relax and have some fun away from championship pressure and enjoy racing at their local (and the fastest) track in England in preparation for their return for the final round of the British Championship in October.

The pair already hold the NG lap record set last October, beating their own lap record set the year before, and their aim was to beat it again.

This one day meeting had no Friday practice which left little or no time for set-up, so with settings from the year were used in morning practice.

However, this was cut short after a passenger fell from his sidecar at Nobles corner and suffering severe lacerations to wrist and arms.

In race one the pair started on tenth position as top grid positions are allotted to the NG clubs regulars and according to championship standings with their main rivals for the race win, Basingstoke pair Mark Edwards and Jamie Winn, starting from grid position nine.

Lovelock/Lawrence made a reasonable start moving up to fifth by the first corner, but Edwards/Winn shot away from the line to lead.

Lovelock/Lawrence picked off the other sidecars and then passed the leaders at the Club chicane and from there led to the chequered flag winning by a margin of four seconds.

Race two saw the grid positions determined from the results of the first race so Lovelock /Lawrence and Edwards /Winn were side by side on the front row.

Yet again it was Edwards and Winn who made the better start while young stars of tomorrow Ben Holland and Ricky Stevens from Portsmouth tried to edge their way between the front two outfits.

Lovelock was having none of it, resulting in the lead being swapped between Lovelock and Edwards for the first six corners, with Lovelock/Lawrence coming out the eventual winners and then pressing on to once again stretch out a lead.

However, behind them was a race-long battle for second place between the outfits of Edwards/Winn and Holland/Stevens with the Basingstoke pairings coming out on top.

Lovelock and Lawrence travel to the Knockhill circuit in Scotland for the next round of the championship on July 11/12, trying to stretch their lead.