Sidecar-racing Staintons mark return to track with two seconds

The Team SaS sidecar-racing team, Jen and Giles Stainton, in action at Mallory Park in Leicestershire. (PHOTO BY: Sid Diggins).

After a busy period through the summer, the husband-and-wife pair, known as Team SaS, had taken a much-needed weekend off to recharge their batteries -- and also to get handlebars repaired after they were broken on their previous outing at Cadwell Park.

So they were more than pleased with their runners-up positions in round five of the East Midlands Racing Association’s F2 Sidecar Championship.

“We improved our personal-best lap time marginally, by half a second, and we were delighted to find consistency at this pace,” said Jen.

“The weekend was a brilliant one that we will remember for the exciting, close racing, brilliant friends and great conversations with people in the paddock.

“Thanks, as always, to all our sponsors and supporters.”

The Staintons were raring to go when they arrived at Mallory Park and headed out for some practice laps to bed in some new brakes, as well as to get used to the new handlebars.

Qualifying went so well that they were fourth, which gave them a second-row start to the first race. They got off to a bad start and were trailing near the back of the pack on the first lap. But Giles soon began to make up ground, passing other outfits through Edwina’s and again at Shaw’s Hairpin, resulting in them moving up into second place, which was maintained to the chequered flag.

Starting the second race from the front row in second position alongside pole-setters Steve Ramsden and Matty Ramsden, Team SaS got away to a much better start. One of their main rivals, the King and Deeley team, made an even better one and passed them at the first corner. The Staintons were also challenged from behind by Steve Jackson and Bob Child.

However, Giles decided to take a chance and pass King and Deeley at the Devil’s Elbow in the hope of shaking off both outfits. This worked out well for Giles and Jen, who maintained their position to cross the finish line for their second runners-up spot of the day.

The Staintons will be back in action soon.