Sleaford sidecar racer Horspole racks up top 10s in Scotland

The pair rode to 10th and ninth-place finishes at Connell’s local circuit of Knockhill.

After qualifying in 13th position, Horspole and Connell were placed on the seventh row of the starting grid for Saturday’s first 15-lap race in round four of the Molson British Sidecar Championship.

They maintained their position on the opening lap before moving up a place to 12th on lap three.

The pair remained in that position for much of the race, while reeling in the outfit ahead of Gilbert/Pilmoor-Brady who they caught and passed on the final lap to seal 10th place for six championship points.

Gary explained: “We were held up for a few laps at the start, trying to get past an outfit with no wheel arch, and once we finally made the move the leaders were gone so we had to be content with 10th place.”

The second race was scheduled for later in the day, but a huge storm put paid to any track action as the circuit was flooded in places.

Along with another class, the race was cancelled to be run at a meeting later in the season.

But the final race on Sunday did go ahead on a drying track.

Gary opted for a wet sidecar tyre in the damp conditions, but soon discovered it was the wrong way to go and slicks should have been the order of the day as the track was drying fast.

The top 10 finishers in the first race were reversed on the grid for race two, meaning Horspole and Connell started from pole position.

But they didn’t get the best of starts and found themselves down in 14th place on the first lap.

As the race unfolded Horspole and Connell began to make progress through the field and were up into ninth position on lap nine of 15.

But they were unable to make further progress and crossed the finish line in ninth position to pick up a further seven championship points.

This brought their total to 26 and moved them up to 14th in the rider standings.

The next round is at Snetterton, in Norfolk, from July 19 to 21.