ROUND six of the British Superbike Championships took place at Snetterton in Norfolk last weekend and the High Wycombe-based Brian Gray Powerbiking Race Team was there to contest the two sidecar events.
With seven races gone in the season,
Gray and Jason Pitt, from Portsmouth, are currently in seventh position in the British Championship after the
Knockhill resultswere amended.
Free practice on Friday went well and at times the pair were showing in the top three on the leaderboard before finishing the session in fifth place.
In the timed qualifying later that day, the heat was turned up and they had their first battle with Gary Bryan and Phill Hyde. The duo lost by 0.172 seconds and took 12th place on the grid for race one on Saturday.
With thunderstorms predicted over the Norfolk circuit on Saturday, tyres were going to play an important part and a decision would have to be made at the last minute. Fortunately the heavy rain had passed when the lights went out and the track was still dry as the field charged down to the right-handed Riches for the first of 12 laps.
The first target for Gray and Pitt was Bryan and Hyde but, try as they might, they were unable to get the better of the pair. They did however overhaul Andy Peach and Ken Edwards to finish the race in 10th place.
The race on Sunday was a reversed grid for the top 10 meaning Gray and Pitt were in pole position and they were hoping to make good use of it.
The duo jumped the start, knocking them back to second, but they held on to fourth as they crossed the line at the end of the first lap. Bryan and Hyde were black-flagged for not taking a ride through penalty.
Try as they might, they could not hold off the three sidecars snapping at their heels and finally settled for seventh position.
Gray and Pitt left Snetterton with a new personal best lap time of two minutes and 3.070 seconds (2:03.07) and still hold seventh place in the Championship.
On the World Sidecar Championship stage, the Brian Gray Powerbiking Race Team-supported Beverley brothers Sam and Adam Christie were at Oschersleben in Germany for round three.
After qualifying in sixth place, the duo came home in seventh in the first race despite some handling issues. The pair crossed the line in fifth on Sunday, knocking off 50 seconds from the previous year with a lap time of 1:33.7.
The brothers now hold a strong fifth place in the title chase.
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