Bryant basks in best weekend yet as Rutter curses more bike problems

The Shrewsbury star was back in action with driver Tommy Philp for the latest British Sidecar Championship round.

Racing on the under card of British Superbikes (BSB) at Donington Park, the pair were hoping to improve on their DNF and eighth-placed finish during the previous round at Knockhill.

Friday's conditions were extremely tricky for the riders but qualifying went well for Philp and Bryant as they snatched third place on the grid behind Lee Crawford and Scott Hardie, and Ben Holland and Tom Christie, for the first race.

By Saturday, conditions had deteriorated and all racing was postponed until Sunday, when the weather was better but far from perfect.

When the lights finally went out, Philp and Bryant were first into the righthander at Redgate but Crawford and Hardie, on their F2 short wheelbase sidecar, took the lead at the Melbourne Loop, with Holland and Christie hanging on to third.

The leaders soon built up a lead of more than two seconds on Philp and Bryant but they dug deep and, with one lap to go, it was down to just over one second.

As they came into the Melbourne Loop, Philp and Bryant dived under to exit the hairpin in front, heading for the win, but Crawford and Hardie had not given up and as Philp took a defensive line into Goddards, the Scottish duo used the F2 motor to out power them and take the win by 0.168 seconds.

But as Crawford and Hardie were on F2 machines and not racing in the championship, it was Philp and Bryant who took the maximum 25 points.

With the grid reserved for race two, the pair started 14th but were soon in a scrap with Phil Bell and James Connell for fourth place, which was where they crossed the finish line.

The results saw them rise from ninth to fourth in the championship with one round to go.

Team manager Michael Rutter, from Bridgnorth, and the rest of the Bathams Racing crew were also back in National Superstock 1000 action at Donington for round five of the championship.

A combination of wet conditions and changes to the race weekend schedule made for a lack of much-needed time to solve the technical issue, which had forced Bathams rider Dan Linfoot to retire from the race last time out at Oulton Park.

Due to the slower pace and wet conditions putting less stress on the bike, Linfoot – who has stepped in for the injured Richard Cooper – finished seventh, three seconds off a podium, by far his best result for the team so far.

However, in the dry second race, when lap times were some 13 seconds a lap faster, the same mechanical issue manifested itself again and Cooper finished in a distant 12th position.

Meanwhile, Bathams Racing's junior rider, Harris Beech, 16, from Alveley, has swapped his Yamaha R3 for a Yamaha R6, switching classes to the BMCRC – MRO Championship to continue his development.

Rutter, who has decided not to race so far this year, said: “It feels like deja-vu, to have another race weekend when we've been chasing an electronic issue on the bike, which is having a big effect on the its performance.

"The weather conditions really didn't help, not least because we lost an entire qualifying session, which we really could have done with.

"The wet race was okay, but the second race was painful to watch our bike struggle as much as it did for pace.

"We just need time and laps with the S1000RR to get to the bottom of the issue, and we also need patience.

"It was good to see Harris make the jump up to the 600 class at the weekend and start his adaptation to the bigger bike.

"We will continue to support his development and watch his progress."

The rounds of BSB, British Sidecar and National Superstock 1000 take place at Brands Hatch, October 16-18.