Two wins and a lap record at Oulton Park for Ellis and Clement

Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clement contested the opening round of the Molson Group British Sidecar championship at Oulton Park over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend – winning both races and setting a new lap record on the Santander Salt supported LCR Yamaha.
Ellis and Clement celebrate at Oulton Park.Ellis and Clement celebrate at Oulton Park.
Ellis and Clement celebrate at Oulton Park.

Throughout free practice the North Kelsey rider and his French passenger set the fastest lap and, despite the drizzle and damp conditions, were under the existing lap record of 1m 43.644s to take pole position for the first of two races.

As the lights went out Ellis/Clement set the pace and led the field throughout the race to take the win with a 5.1s advantage over Blackstock/Rosney.

They smashed the existing lap record by four-tenths of a second with a 1m.43.233s lap - 93.87mph which was made even more special as Clement had only seen the circuit for the first time on Saturday.

Ellis and Clement in action at Oulton Park.Ellis and Clement in action at Oulton Park.
Ellis and Clement in action at Oulton Park.

With the top 10 finishers in race one being reversed on the grid Ellis/Clement were placed on row five for the start of the second race and had to fight their way through the pack to get to the front.

By the end of the first lap they were up to fifth and lap two they made it through to third.

On lap three they caught the leading two outfits and took both of them in one move to take the lead which they extended and in the process shaved a further half a second from their lap record set in race one.

They crossed the finish line some 13.733s ahead of Blackstock/Rosney and leave the Cheshire circuit with the championship lead and a 10 point advantage over their rivals.

Bryan and Hyde secured two ninth-place finishes.Bryan and Hyde secured two ninth-place finishes.
Bryan and Hyde secured two ninth-place finishes.

The next round is at Knockhill on June 17/19 although a date clash with the world championship round in Hungary means that Ellis/Clement will be unable to attend.

After their double victory Todd Ellis said: “It was nice to come and support the domestic championship and we hope some of the other world championship teams can come over at some stage.

We have a world championship round at Donington Park in July at the World Superbike meeting and it would be nice if some of the British championship riders joined us for the races.

Todd Ellis was joined on the grid at Oulton Park by his step father Gary Bryan and his passenger Phil Hyde who were riding their F2 outfit as wild cards, using the track time to prepare for their races at the Isle of Man TT in a few weeks’ time.

They completed the two races in ninth place. But their performance was not without a bit of drama as in race one the outfit spun at Hizzy's with Phil Hyde being thrown out of the outfit.

He was unhurt and was quick to jump back on board and the pair completed the race with no further mishap.

They started the second race from the front row but were soon swallowed up by the faster machines and completed the race in ninth place once again.