Things really hotted-up, in more ways than one, at the weekend as the fifth round of the AMCA Sidecar Championship got underway at Wolves Hungry Hill track.

Never a club to do things by halves, Wolves third meeting of the season was a real scorcher. Their first meeting, the Sidecar IMBA, was a complete washout, the second meeting had strong winds bordering on hurricane force and the third was incredibly hot. With another meeting due in two weeks time, heavy snow seems to be the bookies favourite!

The serious business of the Sidecar Championship began in earnest on Sunday morning as Simon Bradford and Neil James, cousin of Jeff James, posted the fastest lap time in their first lap of qualifying, a second ahead of closest rivals Jamie Stevens and Scott Grahame. Championship contenders Steve France and Lee Machin were just fractions behind in third.

Bradford and James didn’t have things all their own way as in each race they had to battle to the front as a few very quick outfits beat them to the hole-shot, but battle they did and took all three wins to strengthen their grip on the 2008 Championship. When Simon Morgan retired last season as Bradford’s passenger many people thought they would have a chance at the title this year, but Neil James’ first season as a passenger has seen him to be every bit as consistent as Morgie.

Jamie Stevens and Scott Grahame took second in each race as Steve France and Lee Machin took third in the first and second races and were in contention to take a second place in the final race when their engine gave out. Alan Peever and Tony Phillips had three consistent finishes and it was heartening to see a couple of new faces on the podium at the end of the day as they took third place overall.

Stewart Lines and Marc Cooper were out on their new Maximum Solutions Husaberg 630, and it was a handful. The outfit had power aplenty but there are still a few handling problems to be sorted. They improved throughout the day and consolidated an initial fourth spot with a third in the final race to take fourth overall.

Mark Banks and Mike Geraghty were within inches of Peever and Phillips throughout every race and complete the line-up for the overall top five.

With just a few round left in the Championship, competition is increasing but the Bradford Racing team knows what it takes to win titles, and how to keep them. Although the points gap is growing, Bradford Racing will be going full throttle right to the end.

At dawn break on the first morning of the event the weather was very wet and was set to make conditions very tough for all riders. The sidecar crews started first, with the first ones leaving the lakeside in Llandrindod at 08:01 am. The riders did some loops around Llanwrthwl, Beulah, Irfon forest and then to the famous “Water splashes” at Strata Florida, which was set to catch a few riders out for the sheer depth of the water. By mid afternoon, the first of the sidecar crews headed back into Llangurig, then into Rhayader, and then to the first of four special tests held at Cwmythig Hill motocross circuit. Neil and Mark Rowland’s of nearby Llanidloes set the fastest time on their Husaberg powered outfit beating Bradford/James by 14 seconds, with Graham Jones and Simon Brown in third, a further 7 seconds down on Bradford /James.
  
The sidecars headed through some very tough going in forestry’s around Abbey-Cwm-Hir, which lead them to the second special test of the day at Home farm. Bradford /James set the fastest time around there in the championship sidecar class beating Jones/Brown by 7 seconds and the Rowland’s Brothers by 8 seconds, thus cutting their lead to 6 seconds. All three of these sidecar crews stayed clean on time and the Rowland’s Brothers were to lead over night from Bradford/James and Jones/Brown. In the sidecar Clubman class Bradford Racing duo Taylor/Morgan were setting good test times but had lost time on the going, therefore dropping them down the field.
    
The weather for day 2 was a similar story, being very windy with heavy showers. The course was also going to be very tricky in places due to the 600 plus bikes that had ridden it on day 1 - however the course was to be ridden in reverse for the second day making it very interesting indeed! On the first test of the morning Bradford/James set the fastest time some 8 seconds faster than the Rowland’s Brothers and 7 seconds faster than Jones/Brown, therefore taking the overall lead in the sidecar class.
  
On the final test of the event at the motocross track at Cwmythig Hill, Bradford/James again set the fastest time giving them a comfortable cushion at the top of the sidecar class. Taylor/Morgan were again setting fast test times in the Sidecar Clubman class and were looking good for a top finish. As the day wore on the riders headed up to Llangurig, Strata Florida and into the Irfon Forest which was a very “tight” check for everyone. Bradford/James were the only sidecar outfit to go clean in this check, all they had to do now was get back to Llandrindod via some road sections and Bwlchciliau Forest.
        
Bradford/James went on to take the win, over 2 minutes and 32 seconds ahead of second place crew Jones/Brown, with David Williams and Graham Mcphee in third place. Bradford Racing’s other crew Taylor/Morgan went on to take a well-deserved runner up position in the Clubman Class, an excellent result as this was their first “Welsh 2 Day”.
   
On behalf of Bradford racing and I am sure all of the riders, many thanks to the organisers for an excellent run and challenging event. Thank you also to Bradford Racing sponsors: P J Martin Ground works, Off Road Only, Ian Jones Tyres, Arrow Plant and Tool Hire, Foto-x, Lazer Helmets, Michelin and Moterex Oils. Finally, congratulations to Tom Sagar for winning the huge Solo class.