Podium place at Snetterton for North Kelsey rider

Following their double win in Austria last week North Kelsey sidecar driver Todd Ellis and his French passenger Emmanuelle Clement rode to a fine second place at Snetterton in round six of the Molson Group British Sidecar championship on Sunday.
By Helen Pask
Published 23rd Sep 2021, 07:58 BST
Ellis and Clement followed up their win in Austria with second at Snetterton. Pic by Sid Diggins.Ellis and Clement followed up their win in Austria with second at Snetterton. Pic by Sid Diggins.
Ellis and Clement followed up their win in Austria with second at Snetterton. Pic by Sid Diggins.

Free practice and qualifying went extremely well for the Anglo French pair who were second each time to the Birchall Brothers and lined up alongside them on the front row for the start of the first race on Saturday.

As the lights went out they retained their second place behind the Birchalls and the pair immediately pulled clear from the pursuing pack.

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Ellis/Clement were shadowing their opponents and trying to find a way through to take the lead.

There was less than 0.059s between the two outfits and it was shaping up to be a fierce battle for the win between them.

But on lap three of 10 Ellis/Clement were forced to retire from the race with a final drive sprocket problem which caused the nut to come lose and come off causing loss of drive.

Because of their non finish on Saturday Ellis/Clement were placed at the back of the grid for the start of race two, meaning they had to negotiate their way through the pack to get on terms with the leaders.

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As the race got underway Ellis/Clement had a challenge to fight their way through the field but were up to third by the end of the first lap and passed Lawrie/Smithies at the first corner on lap three to move up into second to give chase to the Birchall Brothers who were some three seconds ahead.

They spent the rest of the race chasing the leaders and broke their own lap record in the process with a lap of 1m.56.94s.

But the Birchalls were slightly faster and their fastest lap of 1m.56.92s took the record!

Todd Ellis commented: “we just couldn’t match the Birchall boys today; we made it hard for ourselves by having to start from the back of the grid. We got through eventually but by that time they were away and in the end there was just nothing left of the tyre. I have to thank my passenger Emmanuelle as she has never been to Snetterton before this weekend, but she was very quick to learn the circuit and was brilliant once again.”

The team now has a few weeks rest prior to travelling to Oschersleben in early October for the next round of the World championship where they currently hold second place.