Four F1 wins out of four for Lauder sidecar-racer Steve Kershaw in Fife
It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good and those battering Fife’s exposed Knockhill racing circuit at the weekend certainly couldn’t be so classed as Lauder sidecar-racer Steve Kershaw was able to rack up four wins out of four.
That meeting, including round one of this year’s Scottish sidecar road-racing championship, offered Kershaw and passenger Rhys Gibbons the first chance to try out their newly-built three-cylinder, Triumph-engined Formula 1 Louis Christen Racing outfit as they set their sights on regaining the British F1 title the former last won in 2020.
They were treating the weekend as a shakedown run for both them and their bike, neither having ridden an F1 outfit last year at all, in preparation for the British series starting next month.
Kershaw, 38, and Gibbons, 23, got off to a good start by taking pole position in qualifying, although their main challengers were F2-mounted and thus unable to match the corner speeds of the Borders team’s longer bike.
Saturday’s race one was the first Scottish championship round and Kershaw and Gibbons pairing showed no signs of rustiness as they took an early lead, pulling away from their chasers by almost two seconds a lap, eventually winning the ten-lap event by over 14 seconds.
Runners-up were Newcastle’s Lee Crawford and Scottish sidekick Scott Hardie and Isle of Man Tourist Trophy veterans John Holden and Phil Hyde were third.
Saturday’s eight-lap second race, a non-championship outing, was a carbon copy of its predecessor and Kershaw/Gibbons ended up heading the field by over 13 seconds, again with F2 sparring partners Crawford/Hardie second and Lancashire’s Holden/Hyde third.
The team made some minor alterations overnight to help with handling the cold, windy conditions and on Sunday afternoon they came out swinging again and took a second championship win at a canter.
That time round, former TT-winning passenger Pat Farrance – now on the handlebars, with Connor Parkin in the chair – took second place, with Crawford/Hardie third.
With several competitors calling it a day early on Sunday, racking up their fourth and final win of the weekend in a second non-championship race proved to be a mere formality for the Lauder pair.
Kershaw was delighted by how the weekend went, saying: “I’m very pleased. The handling was very good despite the conditions and the power delivery from the Triumph is so smooth.
“I thought it would be more of a struggle getting back into riding the F1 chassis after a year off but it just fits like a pair of old slippers.
“Rhys is comfortable on the back – he’s not raced an F1 much but it feels like he has.
“We’re looking forward to getting stuck in down south again now.”
Next up for the team is round two of the Scottish series at East Fortune in East Lothian on Saturday and Sunday, April 25 and 26, back on their F2 bike in preparation for this year’s TT but also with one eye on keeping their championship lead.