Two more podium places for Lauder sidecar racer Steve Kershaw

Steve Kershaw and Justin Sharp taking part in round three of this year's British F1 Sidecar Championship at Knockhill in Fife this month (Pic: Weir Bike Sport)

Round three of this year’s British Sidecar F1 Championship at Fife’s Knockhill Racing Circuit was hit by thunderstorms so heavy it was almost as much of an aquatic event as a motorsport one, but Lauder rider Steve Kershaw was unable to exploit his decades of experience of Scotland’s often-dreich weather conditions to prove a splash hit.

The Borderer, with stand-in Justin Sharp at his side as regular passenger Ryan Charlwood was unavailable, was hoping to secure his first win of the season after missing round one in Wales in April and picking up a second and third place in Leicestershire in May but had to settle for two more thirds.

A second place in qualifying earned him a front-row start for the Saturday’s race one alongside series leaders Samuel and Jack Laidlow in pole position.

Delays and downpours pushed the race’s start time back by over an hour to 7pm and gloom and spray made for limited visibility, and as the rain got heavier, standing water caught out Craig Clarke and Peter Ensor, sending them off at a chicane into the gravel and bringing out red flags.

That premature conclusion saw Cumbria’s Laidlow brothers awarded their second win of the season, with Lancashire’s Lewis Blackstock and Patrick Rosney second and Kershaw and Sharp third, all earning only half-points because of the early finish.

Conditions improved for the next day’s 15-lap race two and it saw the Laidlows in pole position, with Blackstock/Rosney alongside them and Kershaw/Sharp in position three.

John Holden and Clement Conil ended up upside down on the gravel that time round, sparking further red flags, but as the race was on lap 12 and more than two-thirds complete, full points were awarded.

The podium was the same as the day before, and that fourth top-three placing on the bounce has lifted Team Kershaw up to fifth place in the series’ standings, on 72 points.

That’s 68.5 points behind the Laidlows’ tally of 140.5, however, so with three rounds left, they’ve got a lot of ground to make up to claim a third British title.

Kershaw said: “Those were probably the worst conditions I’ve raced in and there was a lot more to lose than gain with all the standing water.

“All credit to Justin for standing in – he was faultless.

“We just hope summer arrives before the next round.”

Round four is at Snetterton in Norfolk over the first weekend of July.