German GP Sees Sizzling Sidecar Action

The Cheshire Pairing of Craig Chaplow and series youngest passenger Dan Evanson (19) made the 1600 mile round trip to the Sachsenring for what is now considered the best attended Sidecar Race in the world. Achieving lap times some 3.5 seconds a lap faster than in 2009, the team were, needless to say, pleased with their twelfth Place in the FIM World Championship round, supporting the MotoGP series.

On the back of some radical changes to set up, the Able Systems Mini Printers (Northwich) backed team made an immediate impact, taking a 12th place in qualifying 1, from a 20 strong entry. Going 1.5 Seconds a lap quicker than their best time from 2009.

Dan Evanson (passenger): ‘ Initially the lap times felt slower than 2009, but with our new techniques in left hand corners we were able to drastically improve the times from last year. Its an amazing event to race in front of 100,000 spectators, they all seemed to love the sidecars’

Second qualifying saw another improvement in lap times, but this wasn’t enough to stop the team slipping down the grid two further places to 14th, where they were to start the GP, just one place ahead of Dutch pairing Bennie Struer (son of ex world champion Egbert!) and his passenger, Kees Endervelt.

The race one Sunday followed the MotoGP, and saw packed grandstands setting of air horns, vuvuzellas and fireworks, Craig and Dan made a good start but ended up pushed wide at the first corner. This left the team down in 17th place at the end of the first lap. Over the course of the race the team made steady progress through the field to finish a very credible 12th place, with average lap times some 6 KPH faster than the year previous. The team ran for most of the race with the battle for 9th (going eventually to fellow Brits Scott Lawrie/James Neave) until tyre fatigue took its toll, again a shortfall for teams running on tight budgets, with all three tyres having to last all weekend.

Team Sponsor, Kostas (Winsford Fish Bar) ‘I am delighted to be able to come to support the team, despite the long motorcycle ride to get here, and delighted with the results of a team who are punching well above their weight in terms of finances, Even with their sponsors they have about 20% of the budget of the top teams and i’m proud to be part of this set up.’

Special thanks to our long standing sponsors: Rock Oil, Able Systems Mini Printers (Northwich), Edge Technology Generator supplier/Installer, Winsford Fish Bar, Alan Cornes (Butchers).

Prior to the final World Championship round at Magny Cours, France, Craig and Dan’s next outing will be at Cadwell Park on the weekend of August 6-8 for the latest round of the Battle of Britain F1 Sidecar Championship.

Hectic 3 weeks for CTR leaves a bitter taste of what could have been....

After a 5 week layoff, the CTR sidecar team of Craig Chaplow and Dan Evanson had 3 meetings in the last 3 weeks

Sat 12th June saw the Cheshire pair at a shakedown meeting at the Aintree circuit in Liverpool, designed to iron out any potential problems before the busy season, an unfortunate first corner incident on the first lap of the first race saw the boys qualify last on the grid, Dan, who was punted off the sidecar in the incident escaped with only bruised pride. From the back of the grid Craig and Dan went on to win both the points and the Trophy finals, ahead of the 20 strong field, in the process getting to within half a second of the circuit sidecar lap record.

Three days later and the boys were heading over on a mammoth 1500 mile journey to the Croatian Sidecar GP in Rijeka.

Minor technical issues during free practice left the pair on the back foot going into qualifying leaving them plenty of work to do during the races but with the issues sorted both were confident of a good run. The first 'sprint' race of the weekend saw the pairing take a fine 9th place, their second best result in a world championship race meeting. A Sunday dawned with torrential rain showers on the circuit making tyre choice critical, Craig found a choice that seemed to suit the conditions well during the morning warm up and the team went with a radical choice compared with the competition. However disappointment lay ahead as when the sidecar went out was on the grid formation lap the engine started smoking and the team were forced to sit out the weekends gold race, with the long journey back gave the team plenty of thinking time.

And finally, last weekend saw the team competing in the new, reinvigorated Eastern Airways F1 Sidecar 'Battle of Britian', which returned to our home track of Oulton Park after a two year absence. The largest grid ever of 30 F1 sidecars ran two races, with the Nantwich pairing achieving a 10th place overall at the meeting. Tv coverage of this event will be shown on Monday 5th July at 3pm on British Eurosport – so keep an eye out for the green #73. Thanks to sponsors Able Systems of Northwich and Edge Technology Ltd.

Photo courtesy of Mark 'Wally' Walters

CTR @ Northwich’s ‘Grand Prix’ in a Car park

This Sunday (9th May) Sees the CTR team in attendance at the Northwich Thundersprint. Title sponsors ‘Able Systems – Mini Printers’ are based in Northwich, and as a Cheshire based company and team we are delighted to be able to support one of the biggest ‘Free entry’ Motorsport events in the UK.

Friends and interested people are invited to visit the team in the ‘Parade Paddock’ situated near the back of Northwich town centre. The Bike will be part of the Cavalcade that rides around Northwich town centre at approx 11.30am, then will be on display to the general public for the rest of the day.

Driver, Craig said: “We are delighted to be entertaining Able Systems and their guests, our team believe passionately that motorsport sponsorship is a two way thing, and to be able to give something back to our sponsors at a large event like this is very important to us. Frank Melling and the Thundersprint organization have been very helpful in allowing us to attend this prestigious event, we hope we can offer the spectators something completely different to look at, and bring some more attention to the F1 sidecar class.”

MAY HAILS SOGGY SNETTERTON SIDECARS...

British F1 sidecar team CTR found the May-Day weather at Snetterton matched the mood, as a series of technical gremlins hampered the team’s progress. A Qualifying improvement of 11th (From 17th at Pembrey’s season opener) saw a DNF in race 1, 10th in a two-part Race 2 and a disappointing 19th in race 3.

The weekend started brightly enough for the CTR pair, with Craig and Dan snatching an improved 11th on the grid in qualifying one, still not as high as the teams had hoped, but better than the previous round. The second session was wet and no times improved, leaving the team in 11th for the Sunday 14 lap ‘Super pole’ Race.

Chris Jobbins (Technical Crew Chief) “We always new Snetterton would be difficult, its one of the fastest circuits on the calendar, with two massive, long straights. This years rule about previous world championship runners not being allowed to run fully tuned engines meant we would be around 15-20 BHP down on some of the front runners, it seems a shame to be penalized for wanting to better ourselves and be part of the GP program last year. But we did know the rules when we entered the championship, and at least this round is out of the way now.”

The track dried up for Sunday’s only race, where the first 8 grid slots where up for grabs as part of the super pole procedure. Chaplow/Evanson got the Able Systems Mini Printers/LCR Suzuki of the line in fine style, and in 3 laps had made a clear run to 8th place in the pack, putting an immediate 3 second gap into the pursuing pack and gaining on the group in front. Then disaster struck, as the bike gear shift snapped! The team limped the outfit back into the paddock musing what could have been their first top 5 result of the year.

Race 2 Monday saw the repaired machine starting from 12th on the grid due to the super pole rule. Again the team made initial good progress up to 10th , when the heavens opened at lap 5, bringing the race to a premature halt. The second part was run just after the lunch break, with the CTR outfit holding position on the track and also on corrected times.

The final race of the weekend initially saw the team make a good start, and again whilst running in a top 10 position the machine the repaired gear shift mechanism failed again. This meant Chaplow/Evanson could do no better than trail around the circuit in 4th gear, leaving them a lowly 19th place at the end of the 12 lap race.

The team wish to thank their sponsors Able Systems Mini-Printers LTD, Rock Oil and Kostas, Frank Thomas Group and Nortek Electronic circuits Ltd.

Highlights of the weekends races at Snetterton , will be covered SUNDAY May 9th, 21:00 on Eurosport 2.

Further footage will be on Eurosport, Eurosport 2 and Motors TV, schedules can be found at www.ctr-racing.co.uk

Pictures credited to Mark ‘Wally’ Walters

CTR Press Release – British Championship Round One, Pembrey, South Wales

Able Systems Ltd of Northwich backed CTR-F1 sidecar racing started their 2010 Eurosport ‘Battle of Britain’ campaign with a hard fought series of races at Pembrey, near Swansea in South Wales. The team qualified less than 2 seconds off pole but down in 17th Place on the grid, meaning a mammoth task in the ultra-competitive meeting, results of 18th, 15th and 13th were described as ‘Mediocre’ by team principle, Craig Chaplow.

After a winter of preparations the season began in earnest at Pembrey Circuit, South Wales with an oversubscribed grid of 30 outfits CTR started the weekend confident of picking up the first points of the season. A new weekend format of qualifying, and three points scoring races presenting plenty of opportunity to set our mark in a competitive field. Unfortunately gear selection problems during qualifying hampered Craig and Dan’s ability to really push during the session however they were happy with a personal best lap time. Later when the final qualifying results were released this was only good enough for 17th on the grid despite being 1.7 seconds off the pole position time.

Craig (Driver) – “We expected the pace to be quick and were happy with a personal best but the quality of the competition in this year’s championship meant our time while only 1.7sec off pole put us back in 17”

Saturdays ‘Superpole’ race over 18 laps proved a stern test of all the teams’ skill and fitness. A conservative start saw CTR boxed in on the inside of turn one which left them involved in a six way fight for 10th to 16th position. With Craig and Dan finishing a creditable 15th position picking up their first championship point.”

Dan (Passenger) – “The racing was exceptionally close, closer than I have been involved in for a long time; on a circuit with few passing places progress though the field was difficult but our experience of long races from last year’s world championship helped us to remain competitive throughout.”

The South Wales Sunshine beamed down on Sundays televised feature races. Race one again saw CTR pinned down at the first corner and after a race long struggle to pass slower bikes in front saw them finish in 18th
Dan – “Its disappointing to have finished so far down the field but while we were able to lap faster than many of the bikes in front of us there just wasn’t the space to overtake.”

Race two finally saw CTR able to show there true pace with a positive start seeing them clear of the slower mid field after the first couple of laps. With some of there best lap times of the weekend Craig and Dan managed to bridge the gap to the group in front but again a lack of overtaking opportunities saw their further progress up the field hampered , however positive riding and perseverance saw them finish 13th claiming more valuable championship points.

Craig – “We were caught napping during the qualifying session leaving us a lot of work to do during the races on a track where overtaking opportunities are limited. However our pace in the last race in clean air was encouraging with another personal best lap time CTR were consistently lapping quicker than several outfits in front of us and with a few more laps a top ten finish was defiantly on the card but it was not to be.”

CTR now take a break until round two at Snetterton on the first weekend in May but buoyed with the excellent pace in race three are confident of moving up the order.

Chris (Chief Mechanic) – “This weekend has shown the importance of qualifying well in such a talented field however we have a few ideas to improve the time a Snetterton.”

Thanks need to go to the new organizers of the British F1 Championship for what is already shaping up to be an excellent years racing for CTR. Don’t just believe us for tune into British Eurosport 2 Sunday 18th April 18:00 or British Eurosport 1 Tuesday 20th April 23:30 for coverage of all of Sundays action. As always thank-you to our sponsors for their loyalty and continued support into the new season and a special mention to Craig at Bodycraft of Wrenbury for the paintwork on the bike and Jonny Walker for the sponsor art work on bike and van.

Hope to see you all at an event over the coming year, but don’t forget to check back for updates on the season and other appearances.

Eastern Airways UK F1 Sidecar Championship revs up for Rounds 1 & 2

Pembrey in South Wales is the venue for the opening rounds of this, the biggest and best, F1 sidecar championship since the late 1980’s. An absolute top quality field of F1 sidecars, the like of which hasn’t been seen since the 1986 Silverstone Grand Prix, will be heading down to the former Spitfire base to set their mark on the opening stages of the Battle of Britain.

The current World Champions, Ben & Tom Birchall and former triple World Champions Tim & Tristan Reeves would be favourites to clean up under normal circumstances, but some interesting rule changes mean that the odds may be about to be turned on their heads. The World Championship teams now have to use standard engines as opposed to the highly tuned motors they have been able to run previously and Tim Reeves reckons that change costs up to one second per lap. Coincidentally, one second per lap was about the advantage they had over the best of the National teams in previous seasons, so a seven or eight outfit scrap at the head of the field now looks to be on the cards.

With the field so closely matched you’ll be lucky to find a bookmaker in the country willing to give you decent odds on the outcome, so be there to see it for yourself. The action gets underway on Saturday 10th April and culminates with the Eurosport televised races on Sunday 11th April. Pembrey is located just off the A484 near Llanellli in South Wales, within easy reach of the M4 motorway.

Cheshire Based CTR Sidecar racing will, of course be running in the event and hoping to be pushing for a podium result. Strong pre season testing at Mallory park and Anglesey have left the team ready to make their mark on the map for the opening round.

Craig Chaplow (Driver) said: “Pembrey is a special place for Dan and I, as we made our European debut there two years ago, but the thought of 30 F1 sidecars heading into a tight 180 degree hairpin gets the blood flowing, and we will have to ride hard to make our mark.’’

You can follow the antics of the team this year on both their website www.ctr-racing.co.uk and on Eurosport, who have come in as official TV partner to the series. Again the team wish to thank Able Systems, Nortek, Winsford Fish and Chips and Rock oil for their continued support.

Thundersport GB British F1 Sidecar Championship Website goes live.

The official site of the Eastern Airways British F1 Sidecar Championship is now live. Though out the season you will be able to check event dates, results, championship standings and the Eurosport coverage dates and times.

Aside from checking up on you favorite team here at CTR-Racing.co.uk you can stop by at http://www.britishf1sidecar.com/ for the series overview.

Positive Weekend at Anglesey

CTR Racing attended their first event of the year at the North Wales, Anglesey Circuit. Mixed weather saw the team unable to experiment as fully as hoped during this shake down and test event however ideas were tried with interesting results during the dry sessions on Saturday.

Craig - "While we have not been able to test as many areas of bike setup as we hoped but we have gained valuable knowledge for the forth coming season and some indispensable wet weather track time."

Sundays racing as part of the Nantwich& District season saw wild and wet weather with challenging conditions changing from damp to torrential rain in each session. The wet race conditions favored a strong Formula 2 entry but Craig and Dan managed a creditable Pole Position in Qualifying and followed this up with a 3rd and 2nd place in the two races and overall fastest lap in each race.

Dan - "The extra power of the F1 bike over the F2 was causing us a few grip issues in the wet however the close pack racing was ideal practice for me and Craig ahead of what will be a closely fought season."

Attention now turns to the British Championship starting the weekend of the 9th-11th April at Pembry, South Wales. Final changes and preparations are going on as I type.

Come and see us open our 2010 campaign in what is shaping up to be the most interesting British Championship in recent years. Alternatively catch all the action on British Eurosport during the following week.

Thundersport GB Announce 2010 title sponsor

Eastern Airways has teamed up with the organizers of the UK Formula 1 Sidecar Championship to support the 2010 series.

The UK regional airline will be the title sponsor for all eight rounds of the 2010 UK championship organized by Thundersport GB.

With over 800 flights operating each week, Eastern Airways provides essential transport links from 14 UK airports connecting the length and breadth of Britain and mainland Europe.

Darren Roberts, Eastern Airways’ communications manager, said: “We’ve worked closely with sidecar racing for many years as there is a lot of talent out there and a real passion from those involved. We very much focus our performance against the clock for on-time flight departures, which mirrors the aims of competitors wanting to be the best in this fiercely competitive sport.”

CTR Gearing up for 2010

With only a matter of weeks left until the first full event of the 2010 season all the team has stepped up a gear to finish the preparations.

Engines have been refreshed, repaired and tested after the rigors of the season just gone, once again thanks to John @ JEB's Engineering for the quick turn around time and friendly service. In what turned into the busiest none racing weekend known to the team the fairing also made the long trip up to Jason Miller's workshop for some patching of old battle scars and some subtle modifications, thanks to Jason for some excellent workmanship.

With all the parts converging back at base its time for a final build up and fitting. This does however leave the biggest question of the year,

"What colour shall we paint it this time??"

(Before anyone asks the spray shop can't colour match to tarmac.)

Well with that its back to the garage, you will all just have to wait and see what we come up with..

British F1 Championship secures Eurosport coverage though Thundersport GB

The "Battle of Britain" F1 Sidecar Championship will have its own 'stand alone' 1 hour programme on Eurosport for all 8 rounds in 2010, which should confirm its place as the #1 Sidecar Championship in the World. Both Sunday races (Monday in the case of Bank Holidays) will be shown in full and podiums, grid shots, dancing girls and brolly dollies will also be included.

Each programme will also feature a 'close up' on one team and a 5 minute 'tech talk' feature. This is because we are trying to promote public understanding of sidecars and also to give exposure to all the support services that make the business of racing a sidecar possible. These features will require a bit of co-operation from teams after the Saturday Superpole races to enable us to fit it within our Thundersport TV budgets.

Programmes are scheduled to be broadcast within 8 days of the actual event to keep things as current as possible.

Superside season review and off season update.

Happy New Year to all our visitors.

Screening dates have been released for the Superside season review show to be shown next week on Motors TV. While we have not seen the show yet, both CTR and teammates Redline Superbikes featured regularly in the Superside online TV coverage so don't forget to look out for us during the two hour show due to be broadcast four times next week.

31st Jan 09:15 - 11:55

2nd Feb 15:30 - 18:00

3rd Feb 04:15 - 06:30 & 12:00 - 14:30

5th Feb 02:25 - 5:30

On Sky 413 & Virgin 545

Pre-season preparations are currently gathering momentum, with fairing's being prepped for spraying, routine and annual repairs to the bike being undertaken ready for the 2010 season. Craig, Dan and Chris took time out from the garage work to attend a suspension open day and returned with a few new ideas to try this coming year. CTR are also intending to attend a seminar day based on the AIM computer system built into the bike to ensure we are maximizing it use.

Don't forget to check back to www.ctr-racing.co.uk soon for forth coming announcements on where to see CTR in action during the 2010 season and a full round up of all our new and returning sponsors.

End of season thanks from CTR Racing

CTR Sidecars would like to thank the following (in no particular order) for their help, support and guidance in 2009, it certainly was a baptism of fire at world level, and we enjoyed (nearly) every moment of it:

Russell and everyone at Rock Oil, you’ve backed us from the start and loyalty like that is outstanding and really well appreciated (Can I say that since we started with Rock we have never ever had one single problem with any of their products, their engine oils in particular have been superb – THANKYOU)

Derek and all the staff at Able Systems LTD, who have title sponsored us in 2009 and agreed to support us again in 2010
(Able Systems are manufacturers and suppliers of mini printers, please feel free to visit their web site if you are someone who’s business uses this type of application www.able-systems.com)

Kostas (Winsford’s best and tastiest chip fryer!)

John and Susan at Edge Technology – anyone needing generator deals MUST speak to these guys! (www.edgetechnology.co.uk)

Gareth and his family at Nortek circuits (www.nortek.co.uk) these are suppliers of products to the CCTV industry

The girls at Frank Thomas group (you know who you are) motorcycle clothing and accessories (www.frank-thomas.co.uk)

Gary and Dan at Redline Superbikes team 37 – our guardian angels and the best team to share an awning with in Superside – ‘we won’t be needing that’

Superside for allowing us to be part of the fun, especially Bernd for his guidance, and Mika for his encouragement
Steve @ stevenglish.com - for being there with the best website in the world, it gets me and many others through the dark winter nights

John at JEB’s for some super reliable, well priced, quick engines

The FSRA I think, in the main ?

Rob (Mechanics), Jobbins (team management), Si (IT support) – without you guys I would have had to mechanic the bike, and if that had happened we probably would have failed at that first test at Elvington 2009 and never got going again.

Ben @ Earle St Motorcycles Crewe (01270) 250 274 for his continued support and ability to find anything you might need

The Chaplow and Evanson families who continue to be patient and understanding whilst we throw every hour and £ towards into the Black hole that is world championship sidecar racing.

All our friends within and around the sport, you should be called family.

We have probably forgotten someone, so sorry but thanks anyway

‘Till 2010, stay in touch with our going’s on www.ctr-racing.co.uk

Craig and Dan

2009 draws to a close for CTR so here is the final event report...

….So that’s it – two weeks into the closed season and the CTR Crew are already hard at it planning and plotting for next year, Craig and Dan are hard at it, trying to win over some new sponsors (see the Frank Thomas article below) arrange all of those things that need sorting away from the ‘’glamour’’ side of the sports, things like team-wear, sorting awnings, cleaning and storage for the winter, and our usual nemesis job – getting the race fairing in shape for 2010!

Over in Ireland things didn’t really go to plan, trying to learn the circuit the bike was really near going over on spilt oil from another machine – We thought those bad old days from sidecar racing were over but it seems not – this was the 3rd engine this particular bike had ‘used’ in two meetings that we were aware of.

Race day dawned overcast, shortly followed by a day of drizzle, favoring the F2 bikes, especially to us who were still not really sure which way the circuit went! We were spun out in the first raced and came a rather dismal 9th in the second race, meaning £30 in prize money! Hmmmmm.

So, we decided not to finish the season on a low note and enter the last club meeting of the year at Oulton Park the weekend after. Home as we like to call it!

Qualifying again in the wet saw Craig and Dan running an unusually low 6th on the grid of 20+ outfits, still trying to dial out some minor brake problems. Race one started with a big pile of rear wheel spin and not moving forward very fast at all! When the bike did eventually grip they were away, and spent the race finding some confidence in the bike again, they came in 4th behind World championship regulars Alan Schofield and Ken Knapton, and Club champion Craig Hauxwell on his F2.

Race two saw Chaplow/Evanson make up for the dire start in race 1, from the 3rd row of the grid they slotted into second place by the first corner and were never challenged again. The race was run on a seriously drying track, and with all 4 of the front runners on wet tyres it became a race of attrition, with Knapton pulling out at 2/3 distance with ruined tyres, Chaplow and Schofield eventually pulled 15 seconds on Brian Peddar. So there it was, 1 lap to go, last race of the season and Chaplow/Evanson are within a second of Schofield. They closed going into Shell Oils hairpin, and again going into the lodge complex, using every ounce of slip streaming going onto the start finish straight the outfits went over the line together, and a tense 10 mins was had waiting for the timekeepers verdict – it was eventually handed to Schofield by 0.08 seconds. The closest finish the CTR team has ever had

Craig says he’ll be keeping the website updated every couple of weeks over the winter….. till then!

Looking back on the end of the season.

….So that’s it – two weeks into the closed season and the CTR Crew are already hard at it planning and plotting for next year, Craig and Dan are hard at it, trying to win over some new sponsors (see the Frank Thomas article below) arrange all of those things that need sorting away from the "glamour" side of the sport, things like team-wear, sorting awnings, cleaning and storage for the winter, and our usual nemesis job – getting the race fairing in shape for 2010!

It all started with our trip over the water to Northern Ireland to the Sunflower race meeting, now the Irish are a hospitable lot and offered to help us with our trip over there – which was good of them. We also found a nice route over the water with the Birkenhead –Belfast night boat! The CTR Boys re-financed the bar both ways!
Over in Ireland things didn’t really go to plan, trying to learn the circuit the bike was really near to going over on spilt oil from another machine – We thought those bad old days from sidecar racing were over but it seems not – this was the 3rd engine this particular bike had ‘used’ in two meetings that we were aware of.

So, we decided not to finish the season on a low note and enter the last club meeting of the year at Oulton Park the weekend after. Home as we like to call it!

Race two saw Chaplow/Evanson make up for the dire start in race 1, from the 3rd row of the grid they slotted into second place by the first corner and were never challenged again. The race was run on a seriously drying track, and with all 4 of the front runners on wet tyres it became a race of attrition, with Knapton pulling out at 2/3 distance with ruined tyres, Chaplow and Schofield eventually pulled 15 seconds on Brian Peddar. So there it was, 1 lap to go, last race of the season and Chaplow/Evanson are within a second of Schofield. They closed going into Shell Oils hairpin, and again going into the Lodge complex, using every ounce of slip streaming going onto the start finish straight the outfits went over the line together, and a tense 10 min's was had waiting for the timekeepers verdict – it was eventually handed to Schofield by 0.08 seconds. The closest finish the CTR team has ever had

Craig says he’ll be keeping the website updated every couple of weeks over the winter….. till then!

End of Season for CTR Racing

After a trouble free run at the Sunflower and Wirral 100 MCR events recently Team CTR have finally drawn a close on their 2009 season. Full report from the last events coming soon.

CTR Racing are currently setting their plans into motion for the 2010 season, and are to continue their successful partnership with Gary and Dan Knight of Redline Superbikes.

With the new season on the horizon CTR and Redline Superbikes are pleased to announce the support of Frank Thomas in the supply of race wear for next season.

For the full range of Frank Thomas products follow the following link.

CTR CONFIRM ADDTIONAL EVENT

After the high drama of Anglesey, time out was taken to asses the damage and repairs required. After two weeks of hard work CTR Racing are pleased to announce that they will be entering the 'Sunflower' Event at Bishops Court, Northern Ireland this weekend (17-18th October). Craig and Dan are hoping to finish the season on a high note against stiff competition.

Seasons Finale up’s and down’s

CTR’s season finale took place at the end of September at the Anglesey Circuit, which was hosting both the European Sidecar champion penultimate round and the Cheshire Club’s Kelvin Beckett Memorial races, Craig and Dan’s weekend saw them improve their best lap times on the international circuit improve by 4 seconds from their last visit to the Welsh track, a 5th and 4th Place in the European races, 2 second places and a DNF in the Kelvin Beckett Races, leaving them yet again frustrated at not being able to clinch this impressive trophy.

The weekend started well with qualifying seeing them 2nd for the trophy races, behind fellow world championship competitors Brian Peddar and Rod Steadman (Q42 racing) and 5th on the grid for the European championship races.

Saturday’s euro ‘sprint’ race was run over 5 laps of the international circuit and saw the team maintain their grid position throughout the race, the race was not without incident as the Able Systems backed machine developed clutch problems throughout the race and the stricken machine only just made it to the line running very low on oil. Redline Superbikes team mates Gary and Dan Knight managed an emphatic win in the race to take the overall circuit lap record, CTR team’s congratulations go to them.

An overnight engine change to sort the clutch problem meant that the team were able to make the start of the first trophy race on the Sunday, after briefly leading the pack on the first lap, Craig and Dan were only able to follow Staffordshire’s Peddar/Steadman home ahead of the 18 strong field.

In the weekends feature European ‘Gold’ race (over 18 laps) Craig and Dan made a strong start running 3rd on the first lap, after a difficult start Macclesfield team mates Knight/Knight were the only people to challenge Chaplow/Evanson throughout the race, Leaving the CTR duo to take 4th place from new European champions Mark Edwards/Jamie Winn.

The second trophy race of the day saw the Chaplow/Evanson complete a lights to flag in second place, finishing 6 seconds down on Peddar/Steadman. And the final race of the weekend saw Chaplow and Evanson tangle with the Q42 machine on the second lap leaving them out for the rest of the race.

Presently that leaves the team unsure as to whether they will be racing again this season, with all the world and European rounds now finished there is a chance of appearing at the final domestic round of the season on Saturday 17th October at the spectacular Thruxton circuit. To compete at this meeting leaves the Cheshire pair seeking sponsorship after a very expensive season.

Thanks, as always this season must go to the team, including S Thorley, R Deavall, C Jobbins and R Chaplow, together with Sponsors Able Systems, Rock Oil, Nortek Electronic Circuits, and Winsford Fish and Chips. Without all of you this seasons racing would not have been possible.

Curtain falls on eventful World Season for CTR Racing

The final round of this year’s Superside championship saw ‘Able System Mini Printers’ backed CTR F1 sidecar racing making one final trip across the channel, where solid progress throughout the weekend saw the team consolidate there performances this year, qualifying 15th, followed by a respectable 13th place finish out of 23 teams. Leaving them 12th in the World, and 4th place in the ‘Teams’ championship.

A Damp first free practice gave Craig and Dan an ideal chance to learn yet another new circuit, and in the second, dry, free practice, it allowed set up of the machine. At the end of the first day head mechanic, Rob Deavall said:
“Each round this year has been at new circuits to the whole team, this has meant that not only have Craig and Dan had to learn the tracks but we have had to get a gearing and suspension set up decided, and quickly!” he went on to say “Our thanks must go to Gary and Dan Knight who helped us with set up advice all season and allowed us to use their superb race awning!”

Saturday qualifying saw the team qualify a solid 15th place, with team mates Gary and Dan Knight (Rock Oil/Redline Superbikes) in a fine 5th place. Craig and Dan broke into the 1’39’s in the second and final qualification although improving in time this was to no avail as it didn’t move the Cheshire duo any further up the grid.

Nerves seemed to be running high for the final race of the season on the Sunday, fortunately the day dawned dry and bright. After a reasonable start the team soon found themselves involved in some first corner antics, with Dutch crew Bennie Streur and Kees Endeveld (Bennie Struer Racing) swapping Paintwork with the Able-Systems Machine.

Later Craig said:

“The first corner incident is not unexpected – the championship is that close this year that 26 sidecars all trying to get onto the same piece of tarmac at the same time never was going to work!” the added “ For Dan, Simon, Rob and I this year has been a baptism of fire, over the weekend 3 times world champion Tim Reeves (Eastern Airways Racing) said to me that he thought we’d really done ourselves proud, having thrown ourselves in at the deep end racing at this level with such limited experience between us”

The Team have now got a round of European competition at one of their favorite circuits on Anglesey on the weekend of 19th and 20th September, before the season ends. Again all concerned would like to thank Rock Oil, Northwich’s Able Systems Mini Printers, Nortek electronic circuits and Kostas @ Winsford F&C.

Check out the sample video coverage via our VIDEOS page.

MIXED FORTUNES IN CROATIA FOR TEAM CTR

Able-Systems (mini printers) backed CTR Sidecar racing have consolidated their position in the sidecar world championship with a season best result in race one, and a gutsy ride in the second ‘gold’ race in the Croatian sidecar GP.

After a spectacular 1000 miles across Europe to Rijeka, Croatia the team arrived in good order and with high hopes for the penultimate rounds of the Superside world championships.

Free practice saw problems with the LCR-Suzuki, when the bike developed a serious misfire, somewhat hampering the progress of set up and learning yet another circuit. After overnight repairs Craig and Dan managed to qualify a respectable 12th on the grid.

Craig said ‘We were very happy with our qualifying performance, especially having had to deal with the electrical problems on the bike Friday evening. We managed to qualify 2 seconds a lap faster than we managed in free practice, which is much needed proof that we are finally learning the circuit.’

Race one (sprint race) saw near-perfect conditions, again allowing the team to improve their lap times by a further two seconds a lap, and after a particularly spirited early charge the team managed to settle in to a secure 9th place, and with an unexpected retirement of the team in front finally finished a career best 8th place in a Grand Prix.

Dan said ‘The Circuit is very physical but we have coped and learned the circuit very quickly, we both really like the track.’

Unfortunately disaster struck in Morning warm up, when attempting to pass another bike the CTR machine strayed on to the bumpy part of the circuit, spun and eventually flipped, leaving Craig (driver) trapped in the sidecar and seeing Dan (passenger) thrown 15m up the track. Both were lucky to escape with only mild bruising, and after a thorough inspection, the bike was declared fit to be raced.

Forming on the Grid for the 20 lap ‘Gold Race’ on the Sunday, the team noticed that the NEW rear tyre seemed to be going flat on the sidecar outfit, later found to be due to a tyre fitting mistake.

Opting to make the start the team pitted at the end of lap one and lost two laps fitting a new rear tyre. After a consistent ride, and a couple of other teams suffering technical problems the team managed to finish in 13th place and pick up 3 valuable points in the championship.

Speaking after the race, event crew chief Simon Thorley said ‘Its a real shame after yesterdays successes, but we are happy to have collected some points against the odds – Its kept the team equal 10th in the world championships, with one round to go.’

The team now have little over a week to prepare for the Le Mans (France) season Finale 4-6th September; progress can be followed at www.superside.com

Finally, and most importantly we wish to thank our sponsors and supporters including Able Systems Mini Printers, Winsford Fish and Chips, Nortek, EDGE Technology, The Grange Boarding Kennels, Cheshire Batteries, The Boot and Shoe (Nantwich) and Rock Oil.

For the Video highlights of both the Sprint and Gold Races check out the Videos page.

Barmy July for CTR Racing

Three race weekends and a charity day greeted the ‘Able Systems’ backed CTR team as July approached, and most of Europe needed trampling over in the intrepid team truck.

Early July saw the hottest conditions that the team have ever raced in at Albercete in Spain, with Air temp towards 40 degrees and the tarmac touching 60+ degrees. This meant keeping an eye on tyre wear, together with engine and brake temperatures. Free practice and qualifying saw the team put together their best ever performance in a world championship event and qualify 11th, with things looking hopeful for the team’s first top ten finish in a World Championship round.

Crew Chief, Chris Jobbins said ‘The Bike set up is near perfect, and we have found some novel approaches to dealing with the temperatures of both the bike and the riders’ also adding ‘working here with the world motorcycle endurance championship has also given us some ideas for coping in the heat.

The race day dawned, unsurprisingly bright and sunny, and with a successful morning warm up, race day went without a hitch, the team started from 11th and made a successful race without incident ending in a solid 9th place, and therefore achieving the pre season goal of a top 10 finish in the world championships. Team mates Gary and Dan Knight (Rock Oil/Redline superbikes LCR) continued their storming year with another 4th place, leaving them 5th at this point in the championship.

Two weeks later saw Craig and Dan racing in front of the biggest crowd they have ever had watch them race, 250,000 fans turned up over the race weekend to watch MotoGP/Superside at the Sachsenring circuit in Germany. Limited track time and knowledge saw the team disappointed in qualifying 23rd on the Grid, but with a slightly improved set up for race day they were able to transfer that to a solid 19th place finish. After the race Craig said ‘19th after the 10th in Spain was quite disappointing but we have learnt certain areas of weakness through this weekend, at this level you can not afford for this to happen and we will be working hard to put this right for later in the season.’

A 24 Hour dash back to the UK and an engine change next saw the team out in action at Donnington Park, at the annual ‘Day of Champions’ Here members of the public, together with sponsors and friends pay for ‘Taxi rides’ on the back of the sidecar outfit. Between the teams over £1000 was raised in a few hours to support riders for health, and African health charity. One participant got off the sidecar (slowly) declaring to the organisers that it was the best £20 he had spent in his life!

The final leg of the July racing program was a rare chance for the team to race on the Brands Hatch GP circuit as the 5th round of the FSRA National F1 sidecar championships. Slightly on a back foot having missed the Friday test session the team had to get up to speed quickly to learn the track, with most of the opposition having raced this circuit configuration before it was imperative to learn the circuit, and fast! Unfortunately technical gremlins got in the way of a hectic qualifying session and this saw Craig and Dan having to start 13th out of the grid of 25, having only completed 8 laps of the circuit ever.

Over the course of the three races the lap times and speeds generally improved as the circuit knowledge got better, with Sunday’s two races resulting in two 3rd Places in the F1 cup as a result of an 8th and 7th in the main championship races.

Craig and Dan would like to thank Able Systems Mini Printers, Rock Oil, Nigel and Jan at the Boot and Shoe public House in Nantwich, Nortek Electronic design, Kostas the Greek at Windsford Fish and Chips and Edge Technology

Until next time (Croatia August 21-23rd)

Over and out,

Craig Chaplow
CTR Sidecar Racing.

CTR Racing would also like to take this chance to pass on their congratulations and best wishes to 'Crew Chief' Chris Jobbins and his good lady Tracy McVeigh on the birth of their first child, Connor.

CTR Racing at Superside Albacete

Last weekend saw Craig and Daniel in action at round two of the "Superside" World Sidecar Championships at Albacete, Spain. The weekend saw perfect weather throughout although the high temperatures were causing both riders and bikes some issues, but after their recent run of bad luck CTR pulled an excellent weekend out of the bag.

Qualifying saw Craig and Dan in 11th on the grid, Craig "we are really happy with the grid position, while it would be nice to be nearer the front we have made good progress against our peers from Schliez." CTR have indeed made progress out qualifying Knapton/Belsey and Percy/Swift who regularly place in front of them in the British Championship.

Drama proceeded the race with some unclear instructions from the organizers seeing four teams including CTR stuck in pit lane, fortunately all were able to take up their rightful grid positions during the warm-up lap. A strong performance from the bike during the race saw Craig and Daniel move up the order to finnish 9th. A career best result in some difficult conditions, Daniel "I can honestly say that today has been the most I have enjoyed racing this year."

Team CTR is currently on tour with Craig and Mechanic Robert Deavall taking the next two weeks to cross Europe to Sachsenring, Germany for round 3 which is to be held 17th - 19th July with MotoGP.

A full press release will be available soon with photos from the event, in the mean time check out the videos page of the television coverage from the superside media team and keep an eye on Eurosport UK/Motors TV as the full coverage of round 1 is soon to be aired.

CTR Live Interview on Radio Warrington.

Craig and Dan have been invited for a live interview on Radio Warrington this Wednesday evening. The interview will be going out during the 'Biker Rock Show with Tony W' between 8 and 10 pm. Radio Warrington can only be found online, listening options can be found at http://www.radiowarrington.co.uk/home or via our links page

CTR have mixed results at Round 4 of the British Championship at Snetterton

With a recently completed rebuild CTR aimed to fully test the bike and record some solid results towards the championship.

The meeting was a tale of two halves, Saturday saw the bike performance improve steadily during the morning sessions as it bedded back in after the rebuild. Holding 5th at one point during Qualifying but finally being edged out to 9th on the grid. Race 1 saw Chaplow/Evanson climb steadily up the pack with ever improving lap times to finish a respectable 5th place.

Sunday dawned to torrential rain and drama after Saturdays success. During warm -up a chain failure saw CTR stopped mid track, closer inspection after the session found that the chain had damaged the rear suspension, after frantic lunchtime work CTR made the first race of the day faced with difficult conditions the team settled for a solid 9th place overall, Craig - "after seeing several teams slide off the track we were mindful of the upcoming event in Spain so we rode a sensible race."

With a drying track hopes were better for race 2, but disaster struck during the warm up lap, Chaplow/Evanson were forced to leave the grid before the start, Daniel - "some of the other riders told us on the grid that there was something amiss with the rear wheel and after the mornings problems we thought it prudent to not start the race which was disappointing. Later inspection revealed that the rim was buckled, although partly replaced after the Germany accident more work is obviously required.

So having experienced a mixed week the team were buoyed by the success and relived that the weekend had resulted in no major faults with the bike enabling preparations for Round 2 of Superside in Albecete, Spain to really get started.

Everyone at CTR Racing would also like to congratulate 'Passenger Dan' for finally reaching the grown up world, by winding up his 18th birthday celebrations at Snetterton.

Thanks to Maxine Flatman for supplying the photos from the event.

CTR Prepare for round 4 of the British Championship at Snetterton

After the up and downs of Schliez and missing Cadwell Park, CTR Racing are nearly ready to hit the track again this weekend at Snetterton.

Four hectic weeks of work are coming together with the final rebuild of the bike after the repairs to the chassis damage sustained in Germany, many thanks to Mick Webster for his quick turn around, JEB's Performance Engineering for the engine work and Chris Jobbins and friends for the fairing work.

CTR have high hopes for a good finnish at Snetterton after the recent disappointments,

Craig "We know Snetterton very well and have always enjoyed good results there, the circuit seems to suit our riding style and it will be interesting to see how the increased performance of this years bike translates on the track."

The team hope to be ready to take part in Fridays test day as a shake down, while the action starts in ernest on Saturday with the first qualifying session. Many thanks to all our sponsors this year including Able Systems Ltd and especially the Boot and Shoe Public House, Nantwich for their sponsorship the teams helmets this year.

More Pictures from Superside Round One.

Many thanks to our team mates, Gary and Dan Knight from Redline Superbikes, for passing some images from Schliez on and well done on your excellent results.

For the full set please visit the photo gallery and don't forget to check out the video coverage.

CTR Racing Land on the world stage, in more ways than one...

Craig Chaplow and Dan Evanson’s arrival on the world stage arrived with a bang, or two actually! With crashes in both free practice and Saturday’s sprint race.

Against all odds the the Able Systems backed outfit was re-assembled overnight allowing the team to make their debut World F1 Sidecar GP start on the Sunday, culminating in a respectable 11th place finish in the 22 lap gold race.

Friday morning’s excitements at being in their 1st World Champ round saw the team delighted at running 9th in free practice after seven laps. The “Able-System” backed sidecar outfit was running perfectly.

Unfortunately, on the 9th lap of the session, the 17 year old passenger, Dan Evanson, (youngest passenger in the series), lost his handhold through the chicane.

This resulted in the outfit running off the road at the next corner, across the track and into the Armco. Having missed qualification one, the team worked the whole night to replace broken parts, to be ready for Q2.

German T.V. were interested in the youngest team in the series and many fans came to wish good luck for the rest of the weekend. Craig said,

‘It has been a baptism of fire, but we were trying our best to get up to speed within the 30 minute session. My missed gear caused Dan to miss his hand hold, and it all started to go wrong from there.’

Having missed the first timed qualifying session whilst repairing the bike, all eyes were on the Weather as Saturday Morning dawned. Team manager, Chris Jobbins commented,

‘Saturday’s weather needed to be dry to allow the team a chance of qualify. Fortunately the weather gods were smiling on us and the lads managed to qualify well within the 115% of pole to start from 17th on the grid of 20.’

However, luck was about to run out for Craig and Dan in Saturday afternoon’s sprint race, having made a great start from 17th to progress up to 14th in two laps, disaster struck...!

When finishing the second lap the bike flipped coming out of the last corner onto the start finish straight, with Dan thrown 40 yards up the road leaving the team out of the race. After another late night working on the bike, Craig and Dan finally made their World GP Debut on Sunday afternoon.

Needing a confidence boosting finish they rode a sensible race, finishing 11th and leaving them 12th in the world championship standing after the first two races.

Team CTR would like to thank all the paddock and visitors for their support during the weekend and are already preparing the bike for it's next event at Snetterton (6/7th June).

For full reports from Round 1 of Superside visit www.superside.com.

Also check out the preview of the TV coverage of Superside Schliez on our videos page.

Of course don't forget to check back to www.ctr-racing.co.uk for the latest updates from CTR Racing Team.

CTR MAKE A CLEAN SWEEP AT OULTON PARK

'The team spent the Friday test at Oulton park in the sunshine, developing their new hydraulic clutch, and although the test session was quite broken up, they still achieved a 1'47.6, taking over 3 seconds a lap off the fastest they have ever gone round this track. It was also positive to see 11 outfits testing on a Friday at Oulton Park.

Saturday dawned again a beautiful day, perfect for the 45 sponsors and guests that we were expecting. A total grid of 25 sidecars went down to the holding area for timed qualifying, With the CTR team eventually taking pole by 2 seconds, from Alan Schofield (SRT Motorcycles), With Blackburn's Dave Holden making up the top 3 a couple of seconds further back. With the race starting after lunch this proved an ideal chance for our guests from Able Systems, Winsford Fish and Chips, Nortek and Edge Technology to enjoy a lunch buffet, with a chance then for the kids (mainly little, but some big!) to have photos in the outfit.

The first race saw initial drama as Alan Schofield didn't make the start with gearbox problems. Craig and Dan came into the first corner behind Dave Holden, and after making their move coming out of Cascades, they were never challenged again, building up an 8 second lead after the first two laps, and maintaining that gap until the finish.

Race 2 saw the team request a start from the back of the grid, allowing for some further testing of the new clutch assembly, after some audacious moves, including going three abreast into Shell Oils hairpin, they found themselves in 2nd place going onto lap two. Then ensued a 4 lap battle royal with Dave Holden/Rob Coward, with the CTR Duo making a move coming out of Dear Leap onto the start/finish straight on the last lap. After an exceptionally quick last lap, CTR's Craig and Dan took the chequered flag by just over a second.

Craig and Dan would like to thank the ever present team of Simon, Rob, Les, Chris J, Richard and Gibb for their tireless work, some of whom were up until 2am Friday morning preparing the bike, and not forgetting Christian for the catering.

2009 F1 Sidecar season starts with a new sponsor and bang.

Team CTR would like to welcome aboard Able Systems Ltd, Team CTR's main sponsor for 2009.

After two rounds of the new season Crewe and Nantwich based CTR Sidecar team of Craig Chaplow and Daniel Evanson have already experienced the highs and lows of racing.

After announcing their entry to the 2009 FIM 'Superside&', F1 World Championship, expectations were high going into the first round of the British F1 Championship at Brands Hatch.

A coming together at the end of the last practice session on Friday resulted in Dan having to spend the night in Maidstone hospital. After just making it back in time to be declared fit to ride for qualifying, the team held second position on the grid for over half over the qualifying period, however with teams going out for one last attempt

team CTR ended up 5th on the grid, just under a second from the pole sitter. The rest of the weekend ran smoothly for team CTR with a 4th, 5th and 6th overall and 3 wins in the F1 Cup. Craig - “Moral is running very high within the team, as we have begun to exploit the improvements made over the winter and I feel we can go on to perform even better as the year progresses”. These results left them 5th in the overall British F1 championship and having a 15 point lead in the British F1 Cup.

After all the highs of Brands Hatch the team arrived at Croft after a month off, after going out in qualifying we came back in to find the engine smoking badly, the team pulled together well to change to the spare engine before the first race began, but it went from bad to worse as when they came in during the race they found a small crack in the engine which ruled them out of the rest of the weekends racing, Dan - “it is very disheartening after the highs of Brands, but these things happen in racing”

The team is next in action at Oulton Park on the 18th April 2009, so please come along and support us at our home venue.

PRE-SEASON TESTING

CTR Racing have attended two testing sessions with the new bike as shake down for the new season at Elvington and Mallory Park. both sessions were used to shake down the equipment for this year and give Craig and Dan the opportunity to hone their skills on the new bike.

Craig - "We are very happy with the new purchase and expect to be running near the front of grid in the British Championship this year."

Illustrating the point CTR managed to post a new unofficial F1 Sidecar lap record at Elvington and knocked about a second off their personal best time at Mallory.

PRE SEASON PRESS RELEASE

CTR Sidecar’s Danny Evanson and Craig Chaplow have released plans for this years British and WORLD F1 Sidecar Championships, together with a number of new strategic partnerships for the 2009 season

With a new LCR chassis and Suzuki engines the team will be begin testing in late February, with their British Championship campaign beginning 7/8th March at Brands Hatch in Kent.

Passenger, Dan said ‘We have decided to take the bold step of moving into the World Championships in 2009, in a bid to learn the circuits properly for the 2010 campaign, the series takes us to high caliber race meetings worldwide, including Croatia, and the MotoGP events in Holland and Germany.’

We are pleased to announce commercial partnerships in 2009 with Able Systems (Mini Printers Specialists), in Northwich, Nortek Electronics, and continuing with existing deals with Winsford Fast food and Rock Oil.

Craig - "with new sponsor arrangements, funding is in place for 75% of the season. However costs rise significantly with overseas traveling and anyone wishing to discuss what motorsport sponsorship, from £100 upwards can do for you, please contact me on 07974 924488"