North Kelsey sidecar champs braced for championship changes

Phil Hyde, Gary Bryan, Steve Kershaw, Roger Body, Stuart Clarke, Todd Ellis, Charlie Richardson at the British Championship presentation in Lincoln. EMN-190225-100752002

Todd Ellis and Charlie Richardson won the 600 championship which last year was run within the British Championship, and also took the runners-up spot in the main championship on their LCR 600cc Honda.

Fellow Kelsey racers Gary Bryan and Phil Hyde, meanwhile, were third in the main championship with their LCR 1000cc Kawasaki.

But the new regulations to the championship will see all competitors race 600cc-powered outfits, and therefore just one class instead of two as in previous years.

Bryan has inherited stepson Ellis’ championship-winning outfit from last year, while Ellis will campaign a new one which is being prepared. Both LCR chassis will be 600cc Honda-powered.

As well as contesting the British Championship, in which he ended the season in third place last year, Bryan will again compete at the Isle of Man TT races, using his Honda-powered Formula 2 Baker outfit, with which he and Hyde recorded two excellent top-10 results in seventh and ninth place.

Ellis and passenger Richardson secured their second British championship when they again ended the season as the top 600 Cup team.

The final race of the 2018 season was the pinnacle of their career when they chased down and passed two multiple-world championship teams to secure the win in the final race of the series and lift the championship trophy for a second time.

To beat the two best teams in the world shows the potential the team has, and with a brand new outfit under them they will be seeking a hat-trick of titles in 2019.

Both teams are hoping to go to the Val de Vienne circuit in Le Vigeant, in Western France, for a week of testing from March 18 to 22.

There, a large contingent of sidecar racers, including a mix of world and British Championship, plus national series runners, come together to test their respective outfits prior to the start of their various series.

2019 Hyundai Construction Equipment British Sidecar Championship dates:

Round 1 May 4-6 – Oulton Park; Round 2 June 14-16 – Brands Hatch GP; Round 3 June 22-23 – Cadwell Park (sidecar revival); Round 4 June 28-30 – Knockhill; Round 5 July 19-21 – Snetterton; Round 6 August 2-4 – Thruxton; Round 7 August 16-18 – Cadwell Park; Round 8 September 20-22 – Assen; Round 9 October 4-6 – Donington Park GP; Round 10 October 18-20 – Brands Hatch GP.

2019 TT Races: Saturday, May 25 – Friday, June 7.