Bell brothers ring up sidecar success
THE UK’S busiest sidecar outfit continued its run of podium success yesterday as Bedlington’s Phil Bell stormed to his first British F1 podium.
Bell, who has returned to the track after almost two months out due to work commitments, crossed the line third in yesterday’s Hyundai Heavy Industries British Sidecar Championship race at Cadwell Park.
And it comes just a week since brother Mick won two club races at East Fortune in Scotland to take the lead of Marin Sidecar Cup series.
Phil and Mick – the nephews of the late Ian Bell and sons of successful former racer Geoff – are sharing the LCR Suzuki machine after buying it between them late last year.
Phil, who had always been an F1 rider, had swapped to the smaller F2 machinery five years ago in a bid to save money but was never happy in the little outfit.
Last year he decided to quit the F2s and he and Mick bought the F1 between them, with the aim of sharing it.
Phil decided to return to the high-profile Brit series, while Mick, who’d had a brief dabble in club races a few years ago, fancied another try at racing and signed up to a season racing in the north east and Scottish clubs.
Mick and his passenger Tom Pugh have both been running as novices, and have climbed their way up the ranks this year as they’ve become stronger and strong- er. Last weekend, Pugh wasn’t able to race so Mick linked up with Phil’s regular passenger Tony Belsey, and together they won two races with the Melville Motor Club in Scotland.
But this weekend, Belsey was stuck at work and unable to race at Cadwell, leaving Phil to call on the services of another passenger, Justin Sharp, and the pair qualified seventh ahead of yesterday’s 10-lap race.
“I got a reasonable start and we had a good pace and we just managed to push our way up to third,” he told Burning Rubber last night. “With a couple of laps to go, I could hear another outfit behind me and I was like ‘no, I’m not letting you past’.
“There were a few of them coming up behind so I just pushed a bit more, and as we started the last lap, I knew they weren’t close enough, so I just pushed even more and managed to get a nice clear run to the finish line.
“If I’m honest, I’m quite surprised, I wasn’t expecting that especially after a twomonth break. It was a great race and I’m really happy to get third.”
Bell and Sharp will be back out today, where he will be looking for an equally good run from eighth on the grid.