Double delight for Todd Ellis at Brands Hatch

After completing their qualifying in second place, the North Kelsey sidecar driver and his French passenger lined up for the start of race one on Saturday on the front row and as the lights went out they shot off the line to get the hole shot into Paddock Hill Bend.

From then on they were never troubled by the opposition and extended their lead throughout the 12 lap affair to take the win and 25 championship points by a margin of 13 seconds. They also smashed the existing record with a time of 1m 31.707s - 95.51mph.

Ellis said: “It’s a shame we could not have had a good, close race. I kept looking at my pit board and expecting to see Blackstock/Rosney at some stage but it didn't happen. Its lovely to be back at Brands Hatch and it’s a reverse grid for tomorrow’s race so hopefully we can make a bit more of a race and have some fun out there.”

Race two was indeed more exciting for the Santander Salt-supported team as they started from the fifth row of the grid.

As the race began they were boxed in at Paddock Hill and were slow to make any progress but by the end of the first lap they had made it through to second place, some three seconds behind the Christie Brothers.

As the race unfolded Ellis and Clement moved closer to the leaders finally passing them into Clearways on lap five of 10. They pulled away and took the chequered flag for their second win of the weekend by a margin of 3.1s from Kershaw/Charlwood to secure another 25 points.

Ellis said: “We got a bit comfy after the first race so didn't put new tyres on for this one. It did make it a bit harder for us but it was fantastic to take the double win here.”

After taking the double win in round one Ellis and Clement were forced to miss the second round because it clashed with a World Championship race and the pair were demoted to third place on 50 points, but with the 50 points accrued at Brands Hatch they remain in third place on 100 points but just eight points behind Christie/Christie who have the series lead and just three points behind Blackstock/Rosney in second position.

The next round is at Cadwell Park on August 6/7 when there are three races and 75 points up for grabs.