Three’s up for Brown & Chamberlain at Cusses! ACU British Sidecarcross Championship Round 3 – Race Report & Results

The Waterlooville Motorcycle Club hosted the third round of the ACU British Sidecarcross championships of 2021 at the Cusses Gorse track near Salisbury in Wiltshire.

Report and Images courtesy of Tracy Thacker

Unfortunately, due to issues with injuries, there were still a few teams missing, with drivers Brett Wilkinson and Paul Pelling taking time out to recover. It was good to see Gary Moulds back after recovering from a broken leg.

This week was again the battle of the Browns, but unlike the last round at the FatCat Moto Parc, this time it was Stuart Brown / Josh Chamberlain who dominated, taking three wins, and holding the championship lead.

As the Teams lined up for Race 1, it was clear what the fastest line would be, those with the first pick of places chose their left-hand side, straight into the fast left hand hairpin at the top of the straight. Their judgement was good as Stuart Brown / Josh Chamberlain blasted into the lead on bend one and took an early lead. They pulled out a safe lead and went on to take their first win of the day. Gert Van Werven with passenger Ben Van Den Bogaart made the journey over from Holland to contest the championship with their British rivals. They tucked into second hand fought hard to keep the leading duo in sight, they were on great form and held a safe second. Jack Etheridge / Jim Kinge had a great start and held third fighting to stay ahead of George Kinge / with stand in passenger Steve Pannell in fourth, with Neil Campbell / Ross Graham fifth, and Jake Brown / Joe Millard sixth and starting to fight forward, when disaster struck, and a bad crash meant the race was red flagged.

There was a long wait before the re-start largely due to difficulties with the logistics of ambulances, but the organisers took it in their stride and knew how much those championship races mean to the riders and pushed ahead with a slick programme of races to ensure all championship races where held, that was very much appreciated by everyone, although the longer day did mean a rush for those with ferries to catch.

In the re-start it was Stuart Brown / Josh Chamberlain who again led from Gert Van Werven / Ben Van Den Bogart. Jake Brown / Joe Millard had a slow start but were soon fighting their way through the field and battled hard to pass Dan Foden / Nathan Cooper and tuck into third, but had their Dutch friend in their sights, they closed the gap lap by lap and with just a few laps remaining they blasted through to take second, leaving Gert Van Werven / Ben Van Den Bogart in third. Dan Foden / Nathan Cooper were a few bends behind in fourth, but the battle was on for fifth with Gary Moulds / Lewis Gray fighting hard to stay ahead of George Kinge / Chris Pannell, but they were determined and pushed hard until they found a way past, leaving Gary Moulds / Lewis Gray in sixth.

In race two it was another holeshot for Stuart Brown / Josh Chamberlain this time chase by Jake Brown / Joe Millard with Gert Van Werven / Ben Van Den Bogart third despite exhaust issues. They pushed hard and the top three places remained unchanged throughout the twenty minute race. Behind, George Kinge / Chris Pannell were up into fourth, with Tony Graeme / Zac Snell fighting hard to stay in fifth with strong challenges from Gary Moulds / Lewis Gray for a large part of the race but could not find a way past.

In the final race of the day there was more drama, with the first start red flagged when only half of the gate dropped, then as they were about to re-start there was a medical issue which took the focus of the safety team, the red flag went up again, once that was clear there was a clean start. Dan Foden / Nathan Cooper put their race two problems behind them and blasted into the holeshot on bend one. Stuart Brown / Josh Chamberlain tucked in behind and within the first lap they had taken the lead going on to take a brilliant third win of the day, much to the delight of their supporters. Jake Brown / Joe Millard tucked into third and fought with Dan Foden / Nathan Cooper to take that second place. Behind, Gert Van Werven / Ben Van Den Bogart were battling to pass but disaster struck and their gearbox broke leaving them track side. This left Dan Foden / Nathan Cooper in third. Gary Moulds / Lewis Gray were again involved in a race long battle, this time with George Kinge / Chris Pannell who manage to move into fourth. The next battle was for sixth place with Neil Campbell / Ross Graham passing Jack Etheridge / Jim Kinge. With Stuart Brown / Josh Chamberlain just starting the last lap, and the battles for those top six places continuing, another crash blocked the track and the race was red flagged and they didn’t complete the final two laps of the race.

This leaves Stuart Brown / Josh Chamberlain leading the championship with 191 points, but Jake Brown / Joe Millard hold second with 158, twenty points behind are Dan Foden / Nathan Cooper, and fourth George Kinge / Ryan Henderson just two point behind. Ross Bowers / Dan Phelps hold fifth and still lead the Experts Championship which is contested as part of the main British championship races.

Results