Bradford makes it 6 times British Champion!
At the start of the 2008 season, Simon Bradford from Llandrindod Wells, the reigning AMCA Sidecarcross Champion was without a passenger, after the retirement of Simon Morgan. Bradford thought long and hard about who to approach and after much deliberation it was decided to approach a member of his own Bradford Racing Team- namely Neil James also from Llandrindod Wells. Neil was relatively inexperienced in comparison to Bradford but only being young at 22 years old he had time on his side to learn and that he did, extremely well. Neil had rode in the AMCA Sidecarcross Championship in 2007 but getting on with Simon Bradford was going to be a big challenge for Neil, but one that he really looked forward to.
Over the winter, Simon’s father Bill, built a spare bike with a 525cc KTM motor in for the boys to practice on. Simon and Neil soon gelled and after many hours of testing on the smaller bike they then changed to a 580cc machine. Both of the lads were getting more and more confident with one another and were ready for the 2008 season to start.
Simon and Neil had decided that consistency was the way to win the 2008 championship and build on their speed as the season went on. They did a couple of club rounds at Shobdon and Buildwas and were pleasantly surprised coming out on top in both meetings and actually completing a Bradford Racing one two at Buildwas, when Bill Bradford and Jeff James followed them over the line in race 3!
On the 25th of May the boys headed to Cleobury Mortimer for their first serious race of the season-
The British Round of the IMBA European Championship. The weather was terrible with constant rain, although one of the three races did go ahead as planned but in horrendous conditions. Simon and Neil surged through the pack from a second row start to clinch a second place finish at the line behind the leaders of the European Championship- Russian stars Scherbinin and Sosnovskikh. A very pleasing result for the Mid Wales duo.
The serious stuff started on the 1st of June when the first round of the 2008 AMCA Championships begun at Peacocks Hay. The boys agreed before the start of the race to play it safe and settle in to the race and see how it goes. How wrong they would be! They flew into the lead and never looked back! In fact they completed a trio of race wins for the day which was a perfect start to their championship campaign. 2007 Championship runner up Steve France with new passenger Lee Machin were runners up for day with two seconds and a third. It was very obvious even this early on that the Championship was going to be a two horse race.
A week later it was back to business for Round 2 of the Championship at Sproxton in Leicestershire. The Mid Wales duo were again looking to build on their Championship lead and were after some strong finishes. The day went like a dream and they again took a trio of wins, leading all three races from start to finish.
At the end of June, Simon and Neil entered the Welsh 2 Day Enduro which was based in their Home town of Llandrindod Wells in Mid Wales. Although Enduro was not really their game they were keen for the win as Si Bradford had won the Sidecar class at this Event last year with Si Morgan in the chair. The event was a round of the ACU British Sidecar Enduro series and was set over 2 days with each day covering over 150 miles. It turned out to be extremely tough due to the wet conditions but this it actually played into Simon and Neil's hands and they were the only sidecar to get around the course on the allotted time and stayed clean on time with no penalties, therefore taking the victory. Another pleasing result!
As if doing over 300 miles in the gruelling Welsh 2 Day was not enough, on the same weekend the boys travelled to Kirklees above Manchester for the 3rd Round of the AMCA Championship. Feeling pretty tired after only a days rest they had a reasonable result considering the circumstances and had a first place, second place and thirteenth place which was due to a crash in the final race. They were glad to get Home for a rest, still having a very healthy Championship lead.
On the 13th July the boys travelled across to Longdon near Ledbury for Round 4 of the Championship. The track didn't really suit the boys to well but were pleased to come away with two wins and a second place, taking the overall for the day. They were pipped to the win in the second race by Championship contenders Steve France and Lee Machin who were really up for it in that race and deserved the victory. Simon and Neil had still increased their Championship points lead from France and Machin to 45 points. Things were looking good.
There was a 6 week gap of racing for the boys until the 5th round of the Championship at Cleobury Mortimer so they decided that a local 3 hour Hare and Hounds race would be good for their fitness. The “Simon Rees Memorial” was run on the 17th of August by Rhayader and district Motorcycle Club in Mid Wales. As always the event was run superbly and the track conditions were perfect. Simon and Neil didn't lead into the first corner of the race but had passed everyone by the third corner and were never challenged. They went on to take the win after 3 gruelling hours over a lap up on second placed crew David Williams of Llanidloes and Graham Mcphee of Rhayader. Fellow motocross riders Colin Griffiths of Telford and James Morrel of Knighton were third.
As they were now halfway through the season Simon and Neil knew that their main priory now was to maintain their Championship lead in the AMCA series. At round 5 at Cleobury Mortomer they scored maximum points with a trio of wins, it was a similar story at Round 6 at Kerry near Newtown and Round 7 at Shobdon where they again scored maximum points and were untouchable. They needed just a handful of points at the final Round at Bromsberrow and the Championship was theirs.
On Saturday 11th of October they rode in the famous Weston Super Mare Beach Race. Confident with their pre race preparations they had an excellent start to the 3 hour race coming around the first corner in the top 30 and also the first sidecar, with another 500 or so riders behind them! They were leading and all was looking good until they damaged the radiator on the bike which cost them dearly. The bike went up in a cloud of steam and they had to push the bike back to the pits where it was fixed for them to carry on. Their chance of victory had vanished as by now they had lost over 45 minutes with the incident. By the end of the race they had still managed to pull their way back up to 13th place, which was a reasonable result considering their troubles.
On 2nd November Simon and Neil travelled to the final Round of the season at Bromsberrow, near Ledbury. The day was cold and the track looked really rough and torn up. The boys didn't even go out for practice, deciding to save themselves and the bike as well. As the gate dropped for race one the sidecars surged away with Simon and Neil well up in the pack. Knowing they only needed a handful of points they rode cautiously and took no risks. It turned out to be a real achievement to get around the course as their Sidecar was really low and the track was so badly torn up and rutted they could hardly get around. They were stuck several times on the first lap but luckily managed to keep going but were down in second place, something they were not used to! Steve France and Lee Machin were to far ahead by this time to catch so they came over the line in second place and clinched the 2008 AMCA Championship in the process!
With all the pressure off, races 2 and 3 were going to be more enjoyable. The track conditions were still worsening so it was suggested by Team principal Bill Bradford to take the Enduro bike out as it had better ground clearance and was more suited to the conditions. This turned out to be an excellent move and Simon and Neil were really flying. They won both of the two remaining races and lapped up to second place on both occasions!
They had clinched the Championship on the same day as Lewis Hamilton had won the Formula 1 championship and although it was not quite as an exciting a finish, Simon and Neil were thrilled all the same! Also a fellow rider and friend Gethin Price from Hundred House near Llandrindod Wells had also clinched a Championship the same day- The 2008 Builth Wells Hare and Hounds series, so well done to him as well!
It was a great end to what had been a superb year for Bradford Racing. 2008 was supposed to be a year of learning for Neil but it seems he did not need it, as he and Simon have managed to win the AMCA Championship along with The Welsh 2 Day Enduro and be runners up in the British Round of the European Championship. An excellent season by anyone's standards.
This was Simon's 6th AMCA Sidecarcross Championship, which now makes him the rider who has won the most AMCA Sidecarcross Championships of all time. For Neil it was his first but a great achievement considering this was their first year together. Next year the boys are moving to ride in the ACU British Championship which has World Grand Prix riders in, so this will be a big challenge for the pairing. Simon has ridden in this series before back in 2001, where he finished in a very credible 4th place in the final Championship standings.
Many thanks to this seasons' main sponsors, namely Peter Martin of P J Martin Groundwork's, Llandrindod Wells and Stuart Lines of Maximum Solutions of Birmingham who have made this season possible. |
