It’s no Party at the Park for Pitt and driver Gray

JASON PITT and Brian Gray slipped to ninth place in the British Sidecar Championship after a disappointing weekend at Cadwell Park, writes Barry Clay.

The meeting doubled as the annual British Superbike Championship’s Party in the Park but there was little to celebrate for the Brian Gray Powerbiking Race Team.

Pitt, from Portsmouth, and driver Gray were forced to retire from the first race before a series of collisions saw them limp home in 14th in the second.

That ensured they slid from seventh to ninth in the overall standings – with three of the 10 round remaining.

Meanwhile, Ricky Stevens and Ryan Charlwood rose to sixth place in the championship after successive fourth-place finishes.

And Havant driver Ben Holland steered passenger Lee Watson to seventh in race two after cramp forced him out of the opener.

Heavy rain curtailed free practice on Friday but the sun was shining when the sidecars kicked off a revised schedule the next day.

The track was still wet in places with Gray and Pitt only able to put their LCR Yamaha 600 on to 14th place on the grid, while Stevens and Holland were 11th and 12th, respectively.

After working their way up to seventh place, a broken gear linkage prompted the retirement of Gray and Pitt.

And it didn’t get much better on Sunday.

Starting in 16th spot, they were hit going into Charlie on lap one and knocked off at Coppice on lap three.

Another collision on lap eight – going into the hairpin – damaged a wheel arch before they limped home in 14th.

Stevens, meanwhile, had mixed feelings about his two fourth spots.

The Portsmouth driver said: ‘We were a little disappointed.

‘However, given the bad luck we’ve suffered at Cadwell Park in the past, it’s not a terrible result.

‘And it means we’re only 16 points off third in the standings with our strongest circuits yet to come.’

Havant’s Holland added: ‘In the first race I unfortunately got a bout of cramp in my braking leg, so we had to pull up before the end.

‘The second was much better and despite starting 27th, we managed to finish in seventh which we were really happy about.’

Round seven takes place in Assen, Holland on September 20-22.