Sidecar racing couple undaunted after first crash at Donington

Things were going smoothly in qualifying and warm-up at Darley Moor where Giles and Jen, who grew up and still works in Rasen, posted a good qualifying time of 1min 10secs for race one.

The rain poured down and conditions were far from ideal, but they were circulating midfield and on course for a ninth-place finish when they spun the outfit.

They were able to recover and continue, but much of the field had passed them and they completed the race in 13th.

It was dry for race two and the couple set off well, posting a personal best time of 1min 08secs before they spun again at the hairpin on the final lap and were forced to retire with an oil pressure problem.

Jen said: “It may look as if we had a bad weekend, but actually we were pleased because we recorded a personal best lap time which proves we are moving forward. Giles tested the boundaries to the limit, and beyond!”

The team then moved on to Donington for a round of the CSC Sidecar Championship with the North Gloucester Road Racing club where they were placed on the ninth row for race one which they completed in 12th.

Starting the qualifying race for race two from the sixth row, the Staintons rode well to finish in 13th and claim a seventh row start to the eight-lap race.

They made a brilliant start and maintained a strong position until lap two when their luck changed.

The outfit they were hotly pursuing had a sideways moment at Redgate, and as Giles reacted to this, the outfit spun and flipped onto its roof into the gravel. Jen was thrown off the machine but was unhurt while Giles remained inside the outfit, tucked in to avoid injury.

He said: “Crashes are inevitable and we expected we would have one at some point!

“Maybe with the benefit of more experience I may have been able to react quicker and avoid flipping the outfit, but everything happened so fast. “We were lucky that we were both uninjured and the damage to the outfit will all be fixed in time for our next meeting at Mallory.

“Far from putting us off, it’s just made us want to get back out there again!”

* The couple are sponsored by L R Hutchinson building contractors, Interfuse, MMC, Elite Signs and Pauls Autosprays.

To join them and display your company logo on their sidecar, email [email protected] or visit their Facebook page at Team SaS for more details on sponsorship packages.