Sidecar duo win grand prix on borrowed machine

Gisborne's Regan Feck and Martijn Domper (87g) go flying after crashing into the back of James...
Gisborne's Regan Feck and Martijn Domper (87g) go flying after crashing into the back of James Douglas and Harley Biddle (44i) during the New Zealand Sidecar Grand Prix at Oreti Park Speedway on Saturday night. PHOTO: LINDSAY WITHINGTON
It is fair to say Bradley Sharp was not expecting to become a New Zealand champion on Saturday.

Despite a few hurdles such as having to borrow a bike for the event, Sharp and his swinger, Lance Jefcoate, dominated the final proceedings to win the New Zealand Sidecar Grand Prix at Oreti Park Speedway.

"I definitely didn't think [it] would pan out like this. It's awesome. It definitely makes up for last weekend,'' Sharp, of Manapouri, said.

"We haven't raced on home soil so far this season and we had a gremlin, aye, after blowing up our own bike.''

Fellow racer Aiden Thwaites lent them a sidecar for the event and it paid dividends.

"That's an older bike and we made it shine. Aiden actually had two bikes in the final for the New Zealand Grand Prix, with his brother Luke riding the other so he'd have to be happy with that,'' Sharp said.

The final stanza also featured Auckland's Dylan Moohan and Sean Mason, who finished second, with Oreti Park's James Douglas and Harley Biddle third overall.

Sharp said he relished the opportunity to race against some of New Zealand's leading combinations.

"We were just out there to have fun. . . We just said to each other `what have we got to lose?' and just didn't let anything bother us. We were relaxed all day and look at the end result,'' he said.

"We've never even made a final in the NZGP before so this is cool. We're super stoked.

"Lance does a great job on the back. We've been mates since we were kids so we don't need to talk about it. We just go out there and do what needs to be done.''

The duo returned this week from a successful campaign in Australia where they clinched second overall in the East Coast Sidecar Roundup, missing the title by just two points.

"We were first equal but they screwed up the points and took it off us. We partied on Saturday night like we got first but then Sunday we got the phone call to say they'd made a mistake.''

They are now trying to source a new engine for their own machine to have a tilt at the New Zealand Sidecar Championships at Moore Park, near Christchurch, in January.

 - Kate Buchanan 

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