Heading north of the border next weekend 16-18th June, the British Sidecar Championship brings what could easily be the largest contingent of sidecars seen in recent years at the 1.27 mile Knockhill circuit.

Returning to mainland short circuit duty are several intrepid crews who have just battled the rigours of the Isle of Man TT course with no small degree of success.

Each with a fourth place finish are Alan Founds and Lewis Blackstock. The latter, with his regular passenger Patrick Rosney, earned his silver replica in race two, whilst 600cc Cup leader Alan Founds is reunited with Tom Peters for domestic action having finished fourth in the opening TT  with Jake Lowther..

A race one TT fifth for series leader and multiple world champion Tim Reeves could not be bettered as he retired in race two.

A stunning double TT victory for Ben and Tom Birchall will be celebrated in Hungary where they are on World Championship duty, along with John Holden who was twice runner-up in the Island.

Here at Knockhill however, the prospect of seeing all these crews in action on this tight hillside track over three races is indeed a spectacle to relish.

At the top of the table the gap between Tim and Tristan Reeves (Carl Cox Motorsport Kawasaki) and the chasing title holders Ricky Stevens and Ryan Charlwood is a slender fifteen points. The JG Speedfit Cool Kawasaki duo need a win here to get their title defence back on track.

Last year, Ryan and the sidecar parted company resulting in a shoulder injury which put him out.

Hannafin Kawasaki's Ben Holland took all three victories twelve months ago and will be looking for a repeat. Now teamed up with Stuart Ramsay, Holland has shown his speed, but a retirement at Oulton Park affected his points tally.

Three times runners-up here last year, Chris Walker and Ashley Hawes are still searching for their first win, and clearly have the Knockhill track sorted on the Santander Salt Kawasaki. Always a hard man to pass, if The Stalker makes the break, it will be very entertaining.

Team-mates to Walker, Gary Bryan/Ben McBride come herein a very creditable fourth place just one point ahead of Walker.

A huge home crowd will applaud the return of Stephen Kershaw who, now partnered by the amazing Stuart Clark, sits in third in the table on the Express Tyres/Blinkbonny Quarry Kawasaki.

Knockhill 2015, at the Jock Taylor memorial meeting, was the scene of an horrific crash which left both Kershaw and his passenger Rob Wilson seriously injured.

Rob is bound to be around the paddock this weekend, so give him a thumbs-up when you bump into him.

Kershaw's attitude is nothing short of remarkable, and he is absolutely flying in 2017.

Another hard man making a comeback, is Northumbrian Phil Bell. Tony Belsey does the third wheel duty for Phil, and the Marin Motorsports, ex-Sean Hegarty Suzuki is something of a missile. They are right behind Holland in sixth in the table.

New names making an appearance include rookie Todd Ellis, who, teamed up with the experienced Charlie Richardson, will be out to make a name for himself.

Andy Peach/Ken Edwards have not got their season going yet, but come here to Scotland in very positive mood.

There are too many crews to mention, but one thing is certain, with a live TV slot mid-afternoon on Sunday, and two races before that, this Knockhill weekend will be a cracker.


Barry Nutley