International Sidecar Revival – Cadwell Park

My favourite motorsport event of the season took place last weekend at my favourite venue. The 7th International Sidecar Revival at Cadwell Park. A two day celebration of three wheel racing had been inked in my diary since the 2025 MSV event calendar was published.

This weekend provided the opportunity to see and hear sidecar outfits spanning several decades. The main highlight being three races in the British Sidecar Championship.

Organised by BEMSEE the International Sidecar Revival has grown into one of the most popular events on the Cadwell calendar. With good crowds attended on both days a full programme of qualifying and races were planned.

The entry list read like a “who’s who ?” of modern sidecar stars. Six world champions with thirty titles between them, representing the best gathering of sidecars in the UK for years.

Support classes included the FSRA British F2 Championship, BMCRC F1 and F2 Club Championship, the FSRA Pre-Injection Championship and the Camathius Cup. The Camathius Cup is a European series for classic outfits.

Saturday morning, a Free Practice and Timed Qualifying session was the first opportunity to see the F1 GP outfits. The long wheelbase sidecars were flying as they set up prior to the first of three races over the weekend.

SSD British Sidecar Championship Qualifying

Luke Williams and Kevin Kolsch #91 were leading the SSD British Sidecar Championship by 38 points after a commanding performance at Knockhill. The pressure was now on all the other crews at Cadwell to make up some ground.

Last seasons champions Sam and Jack Laidlow (#84) raised to the challenge qualifying in pole position for Race 1. Williams and Kolsch were alongside in P2 sharing the front row.

Lewis Blackstock / Oscar Lawrence and Sam and Tom Christie filled row two. Multiple World Champion pairings Pekka Paivarinta / Adam Christie and Ben Birchall / Paddy Rooney filling the 5th and 6th grid spots.

SSD British Sidecar Championship Race 1

Warm, dry conditions greeted the crews as they took their places on a full grid containing 23 outfits. Blackstock and Lawrence (#95) led into Coppice retaining the lead over the hectic laps. Unfortunately, their seemingly lightning start was adjudged to be a false one. This resulted in a ten second time penalty, dropping them back to 6th place. Championship leaders Williams and Kolsch (#91) were promoted to first.

The Christie brothers (#34) were a close second. Hannafin team-mates Paivarinta and Adam Christie (#44) were not far behind, the top four finishers were separated by less than a second after a thrilling race. Missing out on championship points were the Laidlow brothers. Retiring from the race with wheel arch damaged. Ben Birchall and Paddy Rosney (#16) and the locally based pairing of Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clement completed the top six.

SSD British Sidecar Championship Race 2

The second F1 GP championship race of the weekend was delayed due to heavy rain. The shock news from the paddock was the championship leaders, Williams and Kolsch, had left the circuit overnight due to “matters of a personal nature”.

The track was still wet in places, particularly in the wooded section. But the sun came out and with a fresh breeze blowing across the circuit it was drying quickly. The crews had to make some difficult tyre choices, in a race that was reduced to ten laps.

Despite having to retire in Race 1 the Laidlow’s #84 took full advantage of pole position to lead on lap 1. Paivarinta / Christie, Blackstock / Lawrence, Birchall / Rodney, the Christie brothers and Ellis / Emmanuelle all line astern.

The crews made a mockery of the belief that the narrow circuit prevents overtaking for sidecars as positions swopped regularly through a frantic race. Eventually, Paivarinta / Christie #44 emerged as race winners (WC). Ellis / Emmanuelle (#6), whose tyre choice obviously suited the drying conditions, claiming the runner up spot (first in the GP class). Completing a series of daring overtaking manoeuvres they were just 0.749 of a second behind.

The 3rd, 4th and 5th spots were filled by Blackstock / Lawrence, Laidlow / Laidlow and Birchall / Rosney, who crossed the finish line within a few yards of one another. The Christie brothers, easing off, completed the top six.

SSD British Sidecar Championship Race 3

Held in near perfect conditions over ten laps late on Sunday afternoon race 3 was an absolute classic and an absolute treat for the healthy crowd present.

Just 3.1 seconds covered the top six crews at the end of a superb race, which included, as before, numerous overtakes. A brave move by the Laidlow brothers in the latter stages of this thrilling race proved decisive. Outbraking their rivals Blackstock and Lawrence at Park Corner they hung on to a well deserved victory. Blackstock and Lawrence fought off Paivarinta and Adam Christie to round off the podium spots. Close behind were the pairings of Ellis / Clement, Christie / Christie and Birchall / Rosney.

Races of this intensity and competitiveness are very rare and the quality of the crews involved made it an absolute classic. The large crowd of sidecar fans trackside will remember this one for a long time.

SSD British Sidecar Championship Cup class

Taking part in the same races for the F1 GP outfits were the Cup class competitors. Despite not being able to keep up the pace with the front runners, there was real competition for championship points. All three races were won by Paul Kirby and Ema Salmon (#27). Closing the gap in their championship battle with Phil Bell and Phil Hyde (#18) to just 15 points. Three solid third places kept Rob Atkinson and Mark Middletons (#26) in touch in third spot in the championship battle.

F2 FRSA British Championship

The support programme was headed by the FRSA F2 British Championship. The three Super Class races produced three identical results. Lee Crawford and Scott Hardie (#17) leading home championship leaders Stephen Kershaw and Rhys Gibbons (#29). Kieran Clarke and Andrew Johnson (#9) were third.

F2 FRSA British Championship Cup Class

In the Cup Class Robert Dawson and Matthew Sims (#97) won all three races on their immaculately turned out Honda LCR outfit.

The three remaining sidecar support classes provided lots of variety and competitive action to keep three wheel enthusiasts happy.

Unexpected guests at the meeting taking part in the Pre-Injection Sidecar class were the current World F1 Sidecar Champions Harry Payne and Kevin Rousseau (#13).

Adding a real splash of colour was the number 69 outfit of Greg Lambert and Robin King

BMCRC Thunderbike 500 and DFDS Yamaha Past Masters

Adding some variety to the already packed three wheel programme, two solo races were included on each day. The BMCRC Thunderbike 500 and the two stroke DFDS Yamaha Past Masters Championships added to the entertainment.

In the Thunderbikes races the Leaning brothers Josh (#24) and Will (#332), shared the honours. They were followed home on all four occasions by Dominic Herbertson (#96). Dom the Bomb is a TT regular who took a third and fifth place in the Supertwin Class on the Isle of Man in June this year.

The DFDS Yamaha Past Masters races were totally dominated by Kevin Wholey (#51), who won all four outings.

Weather interruptions, particularly on Sunday, and lots of red flag incidents and retirements resulted in the Orange Army and the recovery crews being called on regularly. I’m sure the event proved challenging for those with responsibility for running proceedings over the two day meeting. Nonetheless, the quality of those competing more than made up for the delays in the race programme.

The commentating team of Keith Roissetter, Bradley Hix and Barry Nuttley kept everyone well informed. I just can’t wait until the next International Sidecar Revival, to see these remarkable machines speed round this scenic circuit tucked away in the Lincolnshire Wolds.

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Additional images by the editor using a 2008 Nikon D3X with a 70-200mm f2.8 and 200-400mm f4 lens. Look out for our Classic camera report coming soon.

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