Borders sidecar pair pick up two podium places at Kent racetrack

The Borderers, along with reigning champions Ben and Tom Birchall, of Nottinghamshire, had no chance of winning the crown as only East Yorkshire’s Sam and Adam Christie were in with a hope of stopping Anglo-French pairing Todd Ellis and Emanuelle Clement notching up the first half of an unprecedented British and world title double.

Ellis/Clement got off to a shocker of a start in Saturday’s ten-lap race one, dropping behind the Birchalls, Kershaw/Charlwood, the Christies and Lancashire’s Lewis Blackstock and Paddy Rosney.

Kershaw/Charlwood took the lead on lap two and kept hold of it, beating the Birchalls by over four seconds, and Ellis/Clement had to settle for third at the flag, extending their points lead.

Overnight rain had left some treacherous wet patches off the racing line ahead of Sunday morning’s race two as the top ten from race one lined up on a reverse grid, leading to a chaotic start.

Ellis/Clement took the lead on lap two, with the Birchalls moving into second place shortly after and Kershaw/Charlwood claiming third place on lap four, two seconds behind the front two.

The Birchalls overtook Ellis/Clement on the last lap but they only needed to finish second to lift the title, with the Christies as runners-up, so they settled for that, with Kershaw/Charlwood taking the final podium slot.

Kershaw was pleased with that, saying: “We’re so happy to get a win yesterday, especially against Ben and Todd. Today was about staying safe as we are off to Portugal for the final world event in just over a week, so we just weren’t going to risk it on the damp.

“Our pace was the same as the front two, so we’ve no complaints.”

The one remaining race in the International Motorcycling Federation Sidecar World Championship is at the Estoril circuit, near Porto, from Friday, October 28.

Kershaw/Charlwood go into that in third place on 220 points, with Ellis/Clement out in front on 305.