The middle of October saw the final round of the CRMC championship take place at Cadwell.
The last two championship races were on Saturday the 10th, with the Sidecar Race of the Year and the Bill Barrowcliff Handicap taking place on the Sunday.
There were also "taxi-rides" on sidecars arranged for normal people on the Sunday.
On the second lap of practice, as we were going round a long right hand bend (Charlies) Matt Kingsmill (MRE BMW) hit us from behind, and the impact split the petrol tank open.
It was just a racing incident, Matt didn't do it deliberately and he ended up with a bigger problem than us, as; half a lap later; his frame snapped, and the engine started to fall out!
We spent all of Saturday attempting to seal the split in the tank, and eventually a mixture of fibre glass resin, Araldite and chemical metal did the job, but alas we missed both both of the championship races.
Our team mates, Andy Rayner and Loraine Bown were also having problems with their bike, their problems were carburation and timing based.
That evening we enjoyed a fantastic curry feast cooked by David and Janet before retiring to the clubhouse, where Matt was gracious enough to come over and pay for our drinks. We also managed to ply a friend of the team, Paul Allender, with enough alcohol to get him to agree to let me ride his TZ750 solo at Pembrey next season. I can't wait!
On Sunday morning we fuelled the bike up and went out for the Sidecar Race of the Year. Having done only two laps in practice, and with a very cold track meaning little grip, we didn't have the best race we've had all season, and the bike was starting to misfire. We finished the race; but to be fair; only because Richard and Samantha Homes managed to invert their Lynx Saab at the hairpin, causing the race to be stopped 2 laps early.
We had great hopes for the Bill Barrowcliff handicap race, and and for the first lap held second place to the fast-starting Clint Faulkner & Ben Gray. About half way round the second lap, Simon Smith and his amazing dancing bear (AKA Dave Gristwood) came past both us and Clint.
Going through Hall bends for the third time, Clint's enthusiasm got the better of him and he ran onto the grass, this enabled us to close right up on him, but not pass him for second place.
As we crossed the start/finish line, the misfire came back, and Shelli gave me a signal that we were being caught by another bike. I tried to ride round the problem and managed to hold off the bike behind us until the new (stupid) chicane, where; due to more enthusiasm than talent; I managed to get the rear wheel about 18" in the air, and nearly tip Shelli out of the front. Shelli managed to shove herself back in, (by putting her hand on the rumble strip!) and managed to keep us upright, but the the chasing bike, which we could now see was Phil "Pikey Pirate" Luhr and Dave "Buddha" Currell, got past us.
The misfire got worse and I looked for somewhere to park the bike safely. As we came down the back straight, I saw Ian Johnson and Kev Roughan's Imp parked up, so we stopped there so that we had someone to watch the rest of the race with. This was our first non-finish of the season.
The "taxi rides" were cancelled due to lack of time, but it was just as well, at the end of the last race only 4 of the 26 sidecars that started the weekend were still running! Of the ones that we know the details of, these were they problems..........
Andy Rayner/Loraine Bown Timing/Carburation
Reg and Kerry Charlesworth Valve head broke off, destroying the piston and con rod before punching a hole in the crank cases!
Brian Gray/Alan Bedford Faulty Kill Switch
Keith and Dave Latheron Crashed at Mansfield (Dave's OK, Keith is a bit knocked about)
Clint Faulkner/Ben Gray Engine Problem?
Mike Bellaby/Karl Underwood Piston Broke! (In more ways than one!)
Nick Robinson/Shelli Cooper Ignition
Ian Johnson/Kevin Roughan Electrical problem (Ian had also stuffed the bike into the air fence on Saturday, after he lost the rear brakes)
Matt Kingsmill/Andy Johnson Frame Broken
Ray Reeves/Andy Hills Head Gasket
Simon Smith/Dave Gristwood Chain Snapped (on slowing down lap of the last race!)
Dave le Pavoux/Adam Lambert Clutch
Richard and Samantha Holmes Turned bike upside-down.
Grant and Ian Tapsell Puncture in front tyre.
So that brings to an end the first season for On The Edge Racing. All-in-all, we had a great season. We finished every race we started apart from the last one. We were the highest place novices in the CRMC Period 3 championship. We had no problems with the engine whatsoever, but most of all.......we had a hell of a lot of fun and made some great friends.
On a personal note, I'd like to thank the following people:
Shelli...............Who, considering that 2 years ago, hadn't even seen a sidecar outfit, has been a fantastic passenger (the best newcomer in the championship!), also for just for indulging me and putting up with me when I'm being a stroppy git!
Andy Radcliff...........For helping rebuild the bike, helping at every meeting and designing/maintaining one of the best team websites in the country.
David Longworth, Howard Gee and John Wilkinson..............For the support, and just for being there.
Andy Rayner, Loraine Bown, Chris Adams...................Superb teammates and friends. 3rd overall and best novices in the Period 2 championship......in their first season!
Reg and Kerry Charlesworth, Eddy Wright and Vicky Cooke..............for help and advice.
Ian Johnson.................For the immense amount of work he has put in as our sidecar rep (and an equal amount of work growing his 70's porn-star moustache)
John Stanley..........The David Bailey of the sidecar paddock.
And all of the other drivers, passengers, mechanics, hangers on and partners .............................What a superb bunch of people!
If I've forgotten anyone, I'm sorry.........................but, tough, get over it! :-)
We'll post further pictures over the winter, as we rebuild the bike.
Thanks for following On The Edge Racing this year, and remember...........................
"Racing is life, anything before or after is just waiting." Steve McQueen