Market Rasen sidecar racer back on track after crash

Following their dramatic crash at Croft eight weeks ago Market Rasen sidecar racer Jen Stainton and husband Giles Stainton were back on track at Darley Moor.
Giles and Jen Stainton EMN-160915-120739002Giles and Jen Stainton EMN-160915-120739002
Giles and Jen Stainton EMN-160915-120739002

They contested the open sidecar races on their F2 LCR Suzuki 600cc outfit and were pleasantly surprised to secure fifth and sixth place finishes.

“Our crash at Croft left us with significant damage to both bike and passenger,” Jen said.

“We went wide on a fast right-hander and clipped the grass with the chair wheel, not realising that there was a big pothole in the grass.

“The chair wheel dug in and we violently spun and flipped the outfit going over twice. We then slid along the track upside down for quite a distance with me still underneath.

“We were very lucky to get away so lightly because the damage to my helmet and also the bike makes us realise how violent it all was!”

She added: “I badly sprained my ankle, broke my thumb and had to have surgery on my hand to repair and pin severed ligaments. The bike has been completely rebuilt.

“The main aim of the weekend was to treat the day almost as a test day. I was unsure about my fitness and strength as I was only out of cast nine days before.

“We also wanted to see how the bike felt given that we made really significant changes to the set up of the bike during the rebuild. Plus it goes without saying that we were both nervous!”

Qualifying took place in the wet and the husband and wife team took it steady, but were delighted to qualify in fourth.

The track had dried for the first 10-lap race and Jen and Giles rode their own race, picking up confidence with every lap to finish sixth overall and fifth in class.

Spurred on, they completed the second race safely in seventh overall and as the sixth F2 outfit over the finish line with a good lap time of 1min 8.61s (76.59mph).

Jen said: “The changes we made to the set up have paid dividends and Giles and I both felt how much better the bike was handling.”

“We would like to thank Dave Wallis, Dale, Andrew and Vanessa plus Sid for his fantastic photos and all our sponsors that supported us after our crash.”

The next race is at Cadwell Park.