A crash and second-place finish see Todd Ellis and Charlie Richardson second in Molson British Sidecar championship standings

A crash and a second place awaited Todd Ellis and Charlie Richardson in round two of the Molson British Sidecar championship at Snetterton this weekend, which place them second in the overall rider standings on 60 points.

After qualifying on pole position for the first of two 10 lap races North Kelsey duo Todd Ellis and Charlie Richardson lined up against current and eight times World Sidecar Champion Tim Reeves with new French passenger Kevin Rousseau.

As the lights went out it was Ellis/Richardson who got the hole shot from Reeves/Rousseau,.

They held the lead for the first two laps but Reeves powered past on lap three.

The pair pulled away from the following pack and on lap six Ellis managed to pass the multiple world champion to regain the lead which he held as they crossed the line to start lap seven.

But Reeves once again took the lead on the run to the first corner, Ellis lost control of the outfit which spun and flipped onto its roof trapping Ellis inside.

Richardson was thrown clear and as the red flag came out to halt the race he managed to lift the outfit back onto its wheels for Ellis to climb out unhurt.

Because of the non finish Ellis/Richardson were to start the second race on Sunday from a seventh row grid position.

As the race began Ellis/ Richardson got a clean start and powered their way through from 14th on the grid to fifth at the end of the first lap.

They moved up into second place on lap three and chased the first race winners Reeves/Rousseau, posting the fastest lap on more than three occasions in their efforts to pass them.

They finally made their move on lap seven and defended their race lead for the remainder of the laps only to be overhauled by Reeves on the final lap.

Then followed a breath taking battle between the two outfits that were circulating side by side throughout the final lap with first one in the lead then the other.

But Reeves squeezed past at the final corner and crossed the line for his second win of the day just a 10th of a second ahead of Ellis/Richardson who took second place and 20 championship points to consolidate their second place in the championship.

They also set a new lap record in that final chase with a 1m 58.017s - 90.56mph.

Ellis said: “We got a good start and knew we would have to go for it to get through to the front.

"We followed Tim (Reeves) and when the tyres began to go off a bit we had a good battle with him.”

The next round is at Knockhill on September 19/20.