Thistle Racing Sidecar Team
News
More Podium Success for Lewis
13.07.2015
Lewis and the team arrived at East Fortune on Friday for round 4 of the Scottish championship. On arrival he found out his class would be run alongside bigger bikes which didn't seem to phase the Cupar teenager.
Saturday morning held qualifying where Lewis took a comfortable 3rd position with his best lap time of 1:23:487 and average speed of 67mph. After a few close calls during the session it was decided by the race officials to remove the 125cc class from the mixed race to their own race for safety reasons.
After severals delays throughout the weekend due to accidents, 14 year old Lewis finished in a podium position of 3rd place in all four of his races relatively unrivalled.
In Saturday's race Lewis got his best time of 1:20:357.
In the last race of the weekend Lewis got his best start and finished in a trophy position of 3rd. Taking 13 seconds off his best lap time since round 1 at East Fortune.
Overall Lewis is happy with his results and would like to thank his mum, dad, Mark McGaw, BN Designs, NPM, WD Factors, SignFX, John, Dennis, LS2 and Shorty.
Dissapointing Home Round
08.07.2015
Fife pairing of Craig Nicol (Cupar) and Ralph Pryde (Maryborough) made the short journey to the 1.2669 mile circuit of Knockhill for round 5 of the Hyundai Heavy Industries is association with the Molson Group British championship.
Craig and Ralph took to the track for Free Practice on Friday, after completing half a dozen laps the pairing came into the pits because the rear tyre was slowly loosing traction. Several minutes later they decided to head back out onto the track for a further more couple laps but Craig made the decision to retire back to the paddock to save the tyre for qualiying later in the afternoon.
Late Friday afternoon the team headed out for qualifying but it was evident that just after a few laps the Suzuki's rear tyre had completely gone off forcing Craig to retire from the session. Speaking after the 20 minute session Craig wasn't happy with the engine due to it being to slow with him and Ralph only doing a 56.329 second lap, where the pairing had gone faster last September at the Jock Taylor meeting. The decision was to change engines overnight.
After working till midnight on Friday the team started the LCR Suzuki up on the Saturday morning to check everything but they found a very odd rattling noise. So the rush was on to swap the other engine back in before the race at 12.15pm. But the program changed due to overnight heavy rain causing damage to the track just passed the start/finish lline. Once the repairs were completed the sidecar championship were given a 10 minute warm up instead of their race.
Due to low fog and mist the warm up session was postponed for 45 minutes to wait for the mist to clear at the hairpin. Eventually the sidecars got onto the damp track and after completing 4 laps Craig and Ralph came into pitlane to find out they were sitting 3rd quickest. Once the session had finished Craig and Ralph were 7th fastest, proving that Craig has the ability to run with the top boys.
Also on Saturday the team had a visit from the crew of HMS Queen Elizabeth as part of supporting Armed Forces Day. This was a great oppertunity for the caption and crew members to find out how the team have done since first meeting the team at last years Knockhill BSB round. We would like to thank Lisa Foster for organising this.
In Saturday nights and Sundays lunchtime race the number 88 outfit unfortunately had to retire in both races due to fuel problems and blocked injectors.
This wasn't the results the team had hoped for at our home round. But we would like to thank all our sponsors for the continued support and everyone else who came to support the team. Special thanks to Malky & Marie Campbell, Peter & Pete Motor Engineers, SignFX, BN Designs, Nicol Property Maintenance, A*R*K Autopaint, LS2, Deans, Tunnocks, Dennis McInnes, John Mushet Photography, Baz Dagleish, Dennis Brown, WD Factors.
More Success for Lewis
10.06.2015
Lewis returned to Knockhill for round 3 of the Scottish championship. On the Friday Lewis took part in the track walk with Dennis Hobbs ahead of the afternoon test sessions. After learning his way round the reverse direction track with Dennis, Lewis headed out for an afternoon testing. It was clear to see that the changes to the Aprilia 125cc were working with Lewis being the fastest in his class out on track with fast constant lap times.
On Saturday it was very windy and wet but after a great qualifying session on the Saturday, Lewis wasn't fazed by the weather conditions an was close to having pole position being just 1 second off Lewis Patterson's time. Lewis finished the qualifying session in 2nd position. In the afternoon the weather took a turn for the worst causing the racing to be cancelled due to high winds. Lewis was disappointed as he enjoyed riding in the wet but the safety of the riders had to come first.
Sunday was a busy sunny day with 4 races being held. Lewis went into race one 2nd on the grid but didn't get a good start but was chasing down third position but unfortunately him and James McLaren collided at the hairpin resulting in them having to sit the rest of the race out, but both were okay.
The Superteen machine had to get a new gear leaver for race two due to the crash and Lewis had to start last on the grid but managed to make his way up the grid to 2nd place where he finished. This is his best result to date. Starting race three second on the grid, Lewis had a good battle with James McLaren but had to settle for a 3rd place finish.
In the final race of the day Lewis got a bad start which pushed him back a few places but when he got into 4th position the Aprilia seized coming into up the top of the dip.
Overall this was a great race weekend for Lewis, seeing him get another two podiums in his third race meeting. It it evident he has the pace to finish consistantly in the top 3 but needs to work on his starts.
Lewis would like to thank his dad, mum, Shorty, Ralph, grandad John, grandad Dennis, NPM, BN Designs, WD Factors, Hugh Ward and LS2.
Sponsors
Tunnocks
Dean's
Group Lloyd
John Mushet Photography
www.jcmmotorsportsphotography.co.uk
SignFX
Nicol Property Maintenance
A*R*K Autopaint & Panels
BN Designs
Malkie & Marie Campbell
Peter & Pete Motor Engineers
Baz Dagleish
Dennis Brown
WD Factors
LS2
Next Race
Race Date: 1/2 August 2015
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Circuit: |
Knockhill Reverse |
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Circuit Length |
: 1.27m |
Links
Scottish Motorcycle Racing
www.scottishmotorcycleracing.co.uk
RKB-F1
Official BSB
2 Wheels TV
Knockhill Racing Circuit
May Holiday at Oulton Park
6.05.2015
On the May bank holiday weekend the team travelled 280 miles down to round 3 of the Hyundai Heavy Industries in asssociation with the Molson Group British championship at Oulton Park. After missing the first two rounds of the championship this would be the team's first British round of 2015. The may weekend race meeting had very limited track time for the sidecars with only a 20 minute practice session, 20 minute qualifying session and one 14 lap race of the 2.69 mile countryside race track.
After a couple of days waiting around, Craig and stand in passenger Mick Fairhurst were ready to tackle the wet practice session only to stop at Britten's due to an unpredictable technical problem. Once returning to the paddock after the session had finished the team found a few little problems with the LCR Suzuki powered outfit.
On Sunday evening the sidecars headed out for qualifying, this would be Craig and Mick's first lap together and Craig's first lap of the track in 5 years. After completing hald a dozen laps, the pairing pulled up in pitlane to make some adjustments to the front suspension. After softening the suspension the number 88 machine returned to the track to compete the remaining of the session, taking 2 seconds off their lap time each lap and qualified 21st.
On both Sunday and Monday the team welcomed Quattro Plant Kawasaki's guests to have a look and have a seat in the sidecar, this was very popular with the guests.
Monday's 14 lap race was live on Eurosport at 5.15pm, the team got a good start and after a couple of laps the pairing were making their way up the field. But unfortunately on lap 3 while in 15th position, Craig was forced to pull over at Britten's due to a chocked fuel filter.
Although the weekend didn't go to plan and Craig and Mick didn't get the results they hoped for, they had a good weekend and the sidecar attracted lots of attention. Craig would like to thank Mick for jumping on board this weekend and is delighted to say that Mick will be coming with us to Assen in September to passenger and also East Fortune in July.
The team would like to thank Malky & Marie Campbell and Peter & Peter Motor Engineers for coming to support us. And thank you to all our sponsors Nicol Property Maintenance, BN Designs, SignFX, Tunnock's, Dean's, Baz Dagleish, Dennis McInnes, A*R*K Autopaint + Panels, John Mushet Photography, D&S Condie Butchers, LS2 and Dennis Brown.
Poduim finish for Lewis at Round 2
28.04.2015
On saturday, Knockhill Racing Circuit held the second round of the Scottish championship. Lewis was disadvanged going into the race weekend due to being the only racer in his class not to have been testing on Friday.
Saturday morning held a wet warm up and qualifying session. Lewis qualified 3 seconds behind the rest of the class but it was evident that his 125cc Aprilia is a lot slower than the rest of the field. During race one of the weekend, Lewis couldn't find the pace up the straight as the Superteen was slower but he was making up time and going faster through the back of the circuit then the rest of the newcomers. Before race two Craig and Ralph made a few changes to the Aprilia to get it to go faster but these changes unfortunatley didn't work, but Lewis still had a few good battle with Finlay Milne in Saturday's races.
Lewis was fortunate enough to get parts for the 125cc from Mark McGaw on the Sunday to get the bike to go faster and finished race three in his first ever podium finish of a 3rd place! In the final two races of the weekend, Lewis didnt get the starts he had hoped for but still brought the bike home in one piece in a 4th and 5th place finish.
Lewis is really happy with his 3rd place finish at his second ever race meeting and would like to thank his mum, dad, Mark & Gillian McGaw, Ralph, Big Brian, BN Designs, SignFX, NPM, WD Factors, John Nicol and Dennis McInnes.
Mixed Fortunes at Round 1
18.04.2015
Last.weekend saw the whole team travel to the 1.5600 mile track of East Fortune for the first round of the Scottish championship. This would be the first time the whole team of Craig Nicol/Ralph Pryde, Bryan Nicol/Gary McLaren and Lewis Nicol would all be competing.
After the disappointment the week before of Craig and Ralph not making it to the first round of the British championship at Donington Park due to the team transport breaking down, this would be the pairings first time on the outfit this year. On Saturday Craig and Ralph went out for qualifying and were leading the session until the bike cut out half way through the session, leaving them to start the race second on the grid next to Stephen Kershaw and Rob Wilson by just 3.026 seconds. Saturday afternoon held race one, but as Craig went to start the Suzuki powered outfit it wouldn't start due to a blown fuse so they had to sit out.
For race one on Sunday, Craig and Ralph started the race on the back of the grid due to not starting Saturday's race, by the first corner the pairing made it up to 2nd where they stayed until the race was red flagged because two other teams collided. Like a few other teams the pairing decided not to return to the grid for the 6 lap race restart. After a long few hours of delays, the final sidecar race of the weekend was called and the team headed up to the grid. As the lights went out, the number 88 outfit got a great start and lead the race through Pates but had to retire on the third lap.
This weekend was a good test for the Fife pairing who hadn't been on the sidecar for 6 months and to test the new engines. Craig is happy that the engines are fast enough and is looking forward to round three of the Hyundai Heavy Industry British championship at Oulton Park on the 2nd-4th May where Craig will have a different passenger for this round, Mick Fairhurst.
Craig would like to thank Malky & Marie Campbell, Nicol Property Maintenance, BN Designs, Peter & Pete Motor Engineers, Tunnock's, Dean's, Dennis Brown, SignFX, A*R*K Autopaint & Panels, D&S Condie Butchers, Baz Dagleish, Nitro, Dennis McInnes, and everybody else who helped out and came along to support us.
This was Bryan and new passenger Gary's first race meeting of the year. Unfortunately there weekend didn't quite go to plan with problems on the Saturday after qualifying 10th, they had to retire in the race. Bryan and Gary didn't participate in Sunday morning's race. In the final race of the day Bryan and Gary couldn't get the sidecar to go off the line due to a mechanical problem and retired at Pates.
Lewis's first ever race meeting was a great success and he finished all his races, improving all weekend. On Saturday morning he went out for a dry practice session to check the 125cc was fine before a damp qualifying session. Qualifying was Lewis's first time in the damp and he qualified 6th out of the mixed class. In race one, Lewis didn't get the start he hoped for and ended up at the back but got tagged in with a classic who dragged him along. On the last lap of the race, Lewis took 4 seconds off his previos lap time and caught up with fellow friend and competitor Marc Gibson where Lewis over took him at Hannah's on the last lap to finish his first ever race in an incredible 4th position. Sunday morning saw Lewis's first wet race, where he took 5 seconds off his qualifying time, he was very happy about this. Last race of the weekend saw Lewis's Superteen got a great start, and he picked away at the pack to finish 6th.
Speaking after the weekend, Lewis said; "I'm happy with how my first race weekend went, I had the same lap times in race one and in race three. I had a great weekend and finished all my races and got a signature. I'm now looking forward to Knockhill on the 25th-26th. I would also like to thank mum, dad, grandad John Nicol, grandad Dennis McInnes, BN Designs, Nicol Property Maintenance, SignFX, WD Factors and Phil Hyde for all his help and advice this weekend."
Lewis's Training Day
15.03.2015
Yesterday morning Lewis sat and passed his bike training session at Knockhill, this being Lewis’s first time on a bike on a track.
After completing the track walk with the Dennis Hobbs and the other new comers at lunchtime, Lewis took on the 1.3 mile long circuit for a practice session. Lewis was going steady and gradually building up the pace and learning the track until the 125cc Aprilia Superteen stopped on the start/finish line, with the help of track side crew, Lewis and the 125cc made it safely back into pit lane. Unfortunately after frantically trying to fix the bike to get back out for the remainder of the session, the session had already finished. Onto the second practice session, Lewis started off where he left off in the previous session, before the Aprilia suffered from front brake issue. Lewis was gradually getting faster and faster, and becoming more confident in the bike, until the Superteen yet again, had the same mechanical failure on the straight, so the team decided to call it a day.
Speaking afterwards Lewis said, “Today was a productive first session for me. The bike was going well, slight improvements to be made to the bike and myself but I’m hoping to improve next weekend at East Fortune.”
Craig said, “I now know how my dad feels when watching me and Bryan racing. Well done Lewis on passing his training and getting better in the practice sessions. Unfortunately due to a front brake issue stopped we had to call it a day but it will be sorted for next weekend. I would also like to thank Knockhill for letting Lewis practice in paddock 2 on Friday afternoon.”
Lewis would like to thank his dad (Craig), mum (Lisa), grandad (John), BN Designs, Torquil Paterson, Dennis Hobbs, Knockhill, Brian Short and Dennis Brown for all their help.
2015 season launch
07.03.2015
We are launching our 2015 race season today and tomorrow at the MCN Scottish Bike Show. Craig's sidecar is on the Scottish Motorcyle Racing stand and Bryan's on the KDMC stand.
This year Craig and Ralph will be competing in the Hyundai Heavy Industries and Molson Group British Sidecar championship. Craig hopes to be at as many of these British championship rounds as possible including Donington Park, Oulton Park, Knockhill and Assen.
This year the team welcomes on board several new sponsors for the 2015 race season. We are happy to announce that our hospitality sponsors for this season are Tunnocks and Dean's. Along with Group Lloyd who are supplying Craig and Ralph with helmets. Also like to welcome Peter & Pete Motor Engineers to the team this year and Baz Dagleish. The team would like to thank Malky & Marie Campbell for their continued support this year.
Also a big thank you to all our other sponsors who are continuing to help us out for the forcoming race season, Nicol Property Maintenance, BN Designs, SignFX, A*R*K Autopaint & Panels, Dennis Brown and John Mushet Photography.
Bryan and new passenger Gary McLaren will be competing in the Scottish sidecar championship at East Fortune and Knockhill.
New to the team this year is Lewis, he will be competing in the 125cc Scottish championship on his Superteen motorbike, this will be Lewis' first year racing.
Craig and Ralph's first round of the British is the 4-6 April at Donington Park (BSB). Bryan and Gary and Lewis' first round of the Scottish is the 11-12 April at East Fortune.
We still have room on the sidecar for more sponsors, if you are interested please contact us through the contact page.
Thanks to...
13.12.2014
We would like to thank eveyone who has helped us this year. We achieved a 3rd in the British at the Donington Park World Superbikes round. A third in the Jock Taylor race and to round off our season we finished 2nd at East Fortune in October. We also had the sidecar on display at 'Bikes in the Park', the sand races in Kirkaldy, and Cupar Children's Gala. We also finished 27th in the World champiosnhip. Without everyone's help we couldn't have achieved this.
Thanks to...
Nicol Property Maintenance
BN Designs
John Mushet Photography (www.jcmmotorsportphotography.co.uk)
Sign FX
A*R*K Autopaint & Panels
Cupar & Distric Bikers
Malky & Marie
Gordon Ritchie
Dennis McInnes
Den, Caroline and Ewan McInnes
Iain & Effie Fraser
Matt MacLaurin
Tony Brown
Knockhill Race Circuit
RKB-F1
Scottish Motorcycle Racing
Alan White
Iain Fraser
Shorty
Lisa
John
Martin
We are now looking for sponsorship for the 2015 race season to do the British and Scottish championship.
Hope to see you all next season!
Supporting Armed Forces Day
01.07.2014
Last weekend saw local pairing of Craig Nicol (Cupar) and James Connell (Dunfermline) participating in the Eastern Airways British Sidecar championship at Knockhill alongside the British Superbikes (BSB).
After free practice on Friday afternoon the team were sitting 12th with a 54.6 second lap. This being Craig and James’ fastest lap together. The team then went into qualifying on Friday evening with high hopes of a good lap time and grid position for Saturday and Sunday’s races. But on the teams fourth lap the rose joint on the gear leaver snapped seeing the LCR Suzuki taking 16th place on the grid with a 55.6 second lap, just 3 seconds behind pole position.
With help from Ralph Pryde the team managed to weld the gear leaver so Craig and James could make Saturday mornings warm up. After completing 12 laps of warm up the team were sitting 12th fastest.
Late Saturday morning the team had a visit from the crew members of HMS Queen Elizabeth. The HMS crew all had a chat with the team about sidecar racing with the caption also having a seat in the driver’s seat. This was our way to show our support to Armed Forces Day. The whole team would like to thank Lisa Foster from Blackbird Corporate for organising the visit from Navy.
Race 1 was held on Saturday mid-afternoon. Just before the race there had been a slight down pour and with most team having split decisions on what tyres to go out with. Thistle Racing decided just minutes before tackling the 1.2669 mile circuit to put intermediate tyres all round, this proving to be the wrong decision as the track dried up a couple laps into the race. But the team stuck in 16th place throughout the race until there was just 6 laps to go, Craig and James pulled into pit lane with tyre issues and problems with the bike cutting out but once Craig got the bike fired up again the number 88 Suzuki made their way back out on track for the remaining 3 laps. The team still stood in 16th place when the chequered flag was waved.
Starting on row 8, straight after the British Superbike race, the sidecar race was live on Eurosport with primetime TV coverage. Craig had problems with getting the outfit off the line of the 15 lap race as the Avon tyres were ruined. But the team were sticking with Biggs/Capewell, Holden/ Winkle, Horspole/ Pilmore-Brady, Robinson/Deeley, Guy/ Ransley and Body/Winn throughout the race. With several teams dropping out of the race and some good battles between a few others teams, the black and orange number 88 machine finished 15th in front of crowds of up to 20000 people.
The team would like to thank BN Designs, Nicol Property Maintenance, Cupar & District Bikers, Sign FX, A*R*K Autopaints &Panels, D & S Condie Butchers Kelty, Malky & Marie, Dennis McInnes, Gordon Ritchie, Iain & Effie Fraser and Den, Caroline & Ewan McInnes.
WSB Donington Podium
28.05.2014
The 2.4 mile Grand Prix circuit of Donington Park in Leicestershire would be hosting the second round of the FIM World sidecar championship on British soil for the first time since 2008 over the bank holiday weekend of the 23rd to 25th May 2014. Held alongside the World superbike championship at this round the British Formula one contenders were given an opportunity to compete as wildcards. With two former World Champions and British runners of Tim Reeves and the Birchall brothers heading the World entry list, this was an opportunity for the Eastern Airways RKB Motorsport backed British contenders to show just how strong the entries are in the home championship.
Thistle racing team of driver Craig Nicol from Cupar and passenger James Connell from Dunfermline made the trip at very short notice in what was to prove to be a very eventful weekend for them. The weather conditions for the Friday’s practice and Saturday’s qualifying can only be described as dreadful, with thunder, lightning, hailstones and torrential rain. Only managing a couple of laps in qualifying the team had to settle for the back of the grid which would make the 19 lap race even more difficult for them. Craig by his own standards has not completed this sort of distance in a race of this calibre. To add to their problems they had to have a new throttle cable fitted prior to the race. In glorious conditions the evening race on Sunday would prove to be a milestone for the Scottish team. As predicted the two ex-World champions TRADED positions from the start to finish, with Reeves winning by less than a tenth of a second from the Birchall’s. Craig and James settled into a good pace and made their way through the field finishing in 11th place in the race and third amongst the British competitors, giving them their first ever British podium. The whole team was ecstatic with the result and from the cheers from the crowd when they went onto the podium they were a very popular third place. Afterwards a delighted Craig said the long journey and cost had been well worth it. He now just needs more track time for the team to keep on improving. Their next outing is at the home round at Knockhill in June. Come along and support them. Thistle racing would like to thank their sponsors NPM, BN Designs, SignFX, ARK Autopaint + Panels, John Mushet Photography, Cupar & District Bikers, Dennis McInnes, Malky & Marie, Gordon Ritchie, Iain & Effie Fraser and Den, Caroline & Ewan McInnes.
Successful Test Day
24.03.2014
Craig, Jimmy and the team made their way to East Fortune on March 23rd to test the bike for the for coming race season and to run in their newly rebuilt Suzuki engine.
In the first session Craig took Graham, Bryan’s passenger, out as unfortunately Bryan could not make it to the test day due to his bike not being ready. Before the session started Jimmy gave Graham a few pointers which have helped him gain a bit more confidence. After completing four laps they returned to the pits are there was a bit of tweaking needing to be done.
The second session saw Craig and Jimmy out on track. The newly rebuilt engine and new exhaust seemed to have made a massive performance improvement, with the bike sounding better than ever.
In the final session of the day, Craig and Jimmy finally starting putting in race time laps. The times looked good as well as the bike and riders.
Speaking after the test day Craig said, “we are really pleased with the updates from last year and were lapping quicker than what we did last season when we won the Jim Silver race. Big thanks to Jon Baker for the engine work.”
Thanks to the team who braved the cold weather to support Craig and Jimmy.
Our next race meeting is the first round of the Scottish championship at East Fortune on 12th-13th April 2014.