THE second round of the British Sidecar Championship took place at Brands Hatch over the weekend with the High Wycombe-based Brian Gray Powerbiking Team looking to close the gap in the title race.

The team of Brian Gray with Jason Pitt of Portsmouth in the chair were joined by Hull-based Christie brothers Sam and Adam, both crews racing Yamaha LCRs.

Qualifying saw the Christie brothers in sixth place and Gray and Pitt in 12th position.

The race was reduced from 12 laps to six due to previous red flags on the Grand Prix circuit.

The Birchall brothers made the hole shot followed by Ricky Stevens and Ryan Charlwood.

The Christies got up to fifth place with Gray and Pitt in 10th when the Birchalls tried to retake the lead from Stevens and Charlwood going into the last corner. They collided and the red flag came out.

The result for the team was third place for the Christies and eightH position for Gray and Pitt.

Sunday was a different story as, after heavy rain, the track conditions were far from ideal.

Gray and Pitt started the 10-lap race from the second row and the Christies from the fourth.

When the lights went out there was no stopping the veteran Gray, who is in his 52nd consecutive season, and they rode round the outside of two sidecars going into Paddock Hill. By the time they had reached Hawthorns out the back of the circuit, they had pulled out a lead of about three seconds.

Todd Ellis and Charlie Richardson came through the pack but it was Gray and Pitt who crossed the line in first place.

Ellis and Richardson then relegated them into second place but the pair hung on to a podium place for the first three laps, before reigning champions Steve Kershaw and Stuart Clark, followed by Ben Holland and Lee Watson.

Next to pounce were the Christies who lined up their team boss at Hawthorns and swooped passed to take third, but both the Yamaha LCRs were to be picked off by Holland and Watson as they took the last podium position.

It was an excellent fourth for the Christie brothers but it was the ride from Gray and Pitt that grabbed everyone’s attention as the 68-year-old held on to sixth place from Rob Biggs and Jeroen Schmitz.

The Christies are now third in the title chase while Gray and Pitt are in ninth position.

This weekend the team head for Cadwell Park for the Sidecar Revival where Gray and Pitt will be busy racing in the British Championship and the Classic Sidecar races.

They will be joined by the team’s other sidecar crew, Tommy Philp and Jonny Alum, who will be looking to increase their F1 Championship lead.

The Christies will not race as they prepare for the next sidecar Grand Prix.