Snetterton 16th & 17th September 2006'
Classic Sidecar racers Rob Cameron from West Kingsdown, Kent & his agile passenger Andy Smith from the Cotswolds contested in the1st Belgium Classic TT Road Race event at the spectacular Gedinne street circuit near the Ardennes Saturday 2nd & Sunday 3rd September.
The experienced British sidecar team having raced the famous Isle of Man TT races previously managed to secure pole position in the Saturday morning timed training despite this being their first European race meeting together using their BMW classic sidecar.
The Cameron & Smith duo followed this by winning the afternoon race finishing some 28 seconds ahead of two Belgium sidecar teams both having previous knowledge of the Gedinne circuit.
With such a convincing win over the locals on the tricky & challenging closed street circuit the British team were applauded by the Belgium crowds and presented with their trophies in an evening presentation ceremony. During this race Cameron & Smith set a new lap record for this circuit….
The duo has now set 4 new lap records this year using their immaculately prepared classic BMW sidecar. The class is set with strict rules stating that all components must have been purchasable pre 1972.
The Sunday timed training in wet conditions went along smoothly and again the duo started from pole but the race did not end, as the team would have liked.
After gaining the lead on the first lap the ignition cutout lead broke and ended the chance of another victory.
Cameron said “ We have had an amazing time here and have been treated like Royalty by the locals. Everyone is so friendly and we were made to feel so welcome by the organising club, it’s a shame we had such a stupid problem in the second race stopping us from finishing.
The problem was fixed in minutes; we will make amends at our next race in the UK later this month. I would like to thank everyone that has helped us so far this season”.
You can see and follow the teams progress on their new website www.cameronracing.co.uk
Their next British Championship round is at Snetterton in Norfolk on 16th & 17th September “The race of Aces” where the ex World Champion Phil Read will make an appearance
The team were looking forward to another weekends racing back on a UK circuit after their successful outing at the Belgium TT two weeks previous. Having not contested some of the earlier seasons championship rounds Rob & Andy were very keen to gain some more valuable points.
Rob had not competed at Snetterton since 1998/99 so a “gentle” practice session was taken on the Saturday morning, this went very well and as expected, the team came in one lap early as they were both happy with the bikes set-up and their performance.
RACE ONE on Saturday and with a balloted starting position from the 4th row everything was going to plan as Rob & Andy took the lead. This was unfortunately to be short lived and ended with the lanyard line (ignition cut out attached to driver and safety ignition switch) entering the clutch hence stopping the engine. This will never happen again! During this short race for the lads they still managed to record the fastest lap.
RACE TWO and a back of the grid start position after the first race DNF Rob & Andy shot into the lead by the end of the first lap. Wanting to make use of the clear track in front of them they “got their heads down” and rode a very smooth race to claim yet ANOTHER NEW LAP RECORD of 1.23.148 this was some ¾ of a second faster than the existing record.
RACE THREE and the first race of Sunday was again won convincingly after a tussle with the current leader of the Championship. Another fastest lap!
RACE FOUR the Kent based team started from pole position but as the Classic sidecars start their races with “old style” dead engine and “push start” when the Union Jack falls inevitably sometimes bikes fail to start immediately. Rob and Andy’s immaculate BMW powered outfit did not burst into life as it usually does so the rest of the grid were approaching the first corner before the team got going. This did mean a lot of ground to make up. With some fast European competitors entered Rob and Andy set off to chase down the leading pack. They pushed their way through to the lead with one lap spare so won the final Sunday race by 5 seconds. Another fastest lap!
The next race meeting will be October 1st at Mallory Park (Leicestershire) being the FESTIVAL OF SIDECARS this is a sidecar only race attended by many European teams and all classes of sidecar are catered for. Next and final Classic Championship round will be the week after Mallory and held at the Croft circuit. Rob & Andy are always looking for new sponsors to help towards their race costs, they would like to welcome on-board as from last week Boyer Bransden Ignitions from Kent. The team can be contacted via their website www.cameronracing.co.uk