Brown & Chamberlain notch up another title at dramatic finale! 2021 British Sidecarcross Championship Finale – Race Report and Results

The Halstead & District Motorcycle Club hosted the fourth and final round of the ACU British Sidecarcross championships of 2021 at the Wakes Colne track near Halstead in Essex.

Report and Images by Tracy Thacker

Stuart Brown / Josh Chamberlain started the day with a 33 point lead over Jake Brown / Joe Millard, but they had mechanical problems during the day which put the lead in danger.

Racing got underway with an early lead for Tony Graeme / Zac Snell but they broke the steering damper on lap one and pulled out to get a replacement. This left Stuart Brown / Josh Chamberlain to lead the race until an engine failure put them out of the race too. George Kinge / Chris Pannell took the lead, but from behind with Dan Foden / Nathan Cooper had a great battle moving through into the lead and taking their first championship race win. Gary Moulds / Lewis Gray raced hard to take third with Neil Campbell / Ross Graham in fourth. Jake Brown / Joe Millard had problems at the start and were last away, fighting from the back. They were on fire and soon had the leaders in sight, they fought into third on the same lap that Luke Peters / Tom Glazier had a terrible crash where they catapulted into the dirt, medics needed to access the track, so the race was red flag. Results from that final lap weren’t counted so Jake Brown / Joe Millard were awarded fifth place. With the race stopped after 18 minutes it wasn’t re-started as 50% of the race had been completed.

Race two came round quickly and Stuart Brown / Josh Chamberlain had not managed to get a new working engine ready to go. They were loaned a bike and made it to the line in time for the race start. Again, it was an early lead for Tony Graeme / Zac Snell, this time chased by Jake Brown / Joe Millard who blasted past going on to take a great race win. There was a three-way battle for third with both George Kinge / Chris Pannell and Dan Foden / Nathan Cooper fighting past Neil Campbell / Ross Graham in fifth with Stuart Brown / Josh Chamberlain just behind. Foden was determined and was looking for a second race win, but this race was also about to stop early after just 13 minutes. Firstly, there was a crash involving two teams and both were left trackside with medics attending, racing continued with yellow flags. Then Tony Graeme pulled up with passenger Zac Snell injured and needing immediate help, the race was red-flagged. On this same lap Stuart Brown / Josh Chamberlain had mechanical issues with the borrowed bike. Results from that final lap weren’t counted so both Tony Graeme / Zac Snell and Stuart Brown / Josh Chamberlain were awarded race positions from the previous lap, but this caused much discussion regarding the rules, and whether should they be awarded points.

As race 3 started it was not clear to everyone what points they had. This was difficult for many teams as it was the last race of the British championship and positions were close, especially for the first place. Stuart Brown / Josh Chamberlain were back on their own bike, and hole shotted the race going on to take a large lead and a great win. Behind Jake Brown / Joe Millard took a brilliant second just a few bends behind. George Kinge / Chris Pannell held third with Neil Campbell / Ross Graham in fourth. Again, Dan Foden / Nathan Cooper was on a charge and blasted into fourth and closing on third when they had exhaust problems and lost the silencer dropping back with the bike’s performance being impacted. They did well to hold fifth place ahead of Sam Osbaldiston / Harley Lloyd.

At the end of the final race it wasn’t clear which team had won the championship. There was no prize-giving ceremony and final race results after the red flags were still to be determined.

Following a Motocross Committee investigation into the circumstances surrounding the results, it was confirmed that the results issued by the club were correct. The Championship Standings show Stuart Brown & Josh Chamberlain as newly crowned 2021 ACU British Sidecar Cross Champions, just eleven points ahead of Jake Brown / Joe Millard with George Kinge / Chris Pannell in third just two points ahead of Dan Foden / Nathan Cooper. Ross Bowers / Dan Phelps won the Experts Champi-onship which is contested as part of the main British championship races.

Results

Round 4 Overall

Experts

Final Championship standings

Experts