SCOTTON sidecar racer Greg Lambert showed the opposition a clean pair of heels when he took a hat-trick of victories in the final round of the North East Motor Cycle Racing Club Championships last weekend.

Aboard the 1000cc Dalepak Suzuki and with passenger James Sirrell in the chair, Lambert took a win in each of the Open Sidecar races over Cumbrians Andy Laidlow and Pat Farrance but it was in the feature race of the weekend that he excelled most.

Run each year in memory of a Newcastle sidecar hero who was killed in the Isle of Man many years ago, Lambert and Sirrell romped to victory in Mac Hobson Open Trophy race to round off a successful day's work.

Other local winners included Crook's Keith Taylor who took a double in the Formula 400 event, Stanley rider Norman Brunton who took victory in the Formula 600 race on both days and teenager Dan Linfoot from Knaresborough who won the 125cc race on Sunday.

* Following on from a successful 2004 season which saw Darlington road racer Richie Harrison gain success in the National Superstock Cup Championship as well as competing in a number of club championships, plans are at an advanced stage to resurrect a two man team for 2005.

The aptly named Harrison Brothers Racing (HBR) will comprise former CB500 Cup Champion Richie with younger brother Jonathan, who won the Auto 66 Club Sound of Thunder title in 2003, and the pair are looking to reap the benefits of their former successes.

Despite having campaigned an ageing and ultimately uncompetitive Yamaha R1 this season, Richie Harrison claimed points in three out of the last four races in the series which supports the incredibly popular British Superbike Championship and left him in 46th place in the standings.

For 2005, a race proven Kawasaki ZX10R has been recently purchased which will see the elder Harrison plunged into the British Superstock Championship which kicks off at Brands Hatch next Easter.

After his successes last season, Jonathan will be making a return to the race tracks in 2005 aboard a Suzuki SV650 in the competitive MRO Minitwins series. The championship is based around the one make series principle with limited modifications only being allowed and reflects the success of the Honda CB500 Cup which Richie won in 2001 and Jonathan finished second in during 2003.

Both brothers now feel they now have the machinery and structure in place to be competitive in both championships and to regularly be at the front of the results sheets. They have already begun building a much bigger team in relation to the amount of people whom they hope will be assisting them throughout the year both in the promotion and operation of Team HBR in preparation and at the circuits. That will take off a number of pressures off the two racers and should allow them to concentrate solely on racing.

The pair and their team are also currently trying to find the finance to put together a much bigger presence in the paddock and for 2005 for the first time they are hoping to offer sponsors and any invited guests hospitality at all rounds of the MRO and BSB Championships.

l The European Endurance and Racing Club (EERC) heads North to Croft Circuit this weekend for the first of a three round series which will see a Le Mans type spectacle of cars racing in the dark.

The EERC Britcar Endurance Series Twilight Race, to be held tomorrow (Saturday) is planned to run for two hours, starting at around 6.30 pm. It will be immediately preceded by a 45-minute qualifying session, which will start in daylight but end in darkness, thus fulfilling requirements for practice in night conditions.

'The BARC came to me with the idea' said series boss James Tucker. 'This will be the first ever night race at Croft, and should be a blinder!'

Thirty-five cars are entered in the event and will include a number of famous drivers in the ranks. Current BTCC ace Luke Hines will be in action driving a Honda Civic whilst former works driver David Leslie will be out in a BMW M3. Former British Rally Champion Gwyndaf Evans competes in an MG ZR whilst ex TVR Tuscan Champion Ian Flux will contest the meeting in a Mercedes LM3000.

The event will be preceded by a 100 minute race in daylight for the EERC Britsport Endurance Series and complements the races already planned at Donington Park on November 6th, and Brands Hatch on November 20.

As well as the two feature races on Saturday, a full seven race programme is planned for Sunday with the final round of the BARC Championships taking place.

As well as the final rounds of the Darlington and District Motor Club organised Northern Sports and Saloon Car Championship over two, fifteen minute races, there will be a pair of ten lap encounters for the Lancaster Insurance MG Owners Club competitors.

The Universal Racing Services Classis Formula Ford 2000 Championships will be resolved with the final two rounds taking place at the North Yorkshire track as well as outings for the Toyo Tyres Modified Production Saloon Car Championship and the MaX5 Racing Series which will see a grid full of Mazda MX5's battling it out for honours.

Saturday's action starts with qualifying from 10.00 with the first of the two endurance races getting underway at 15.00 and finishing at 20.30 whilst Sunday's racing commences at 12.05 Adult admission costs £6 on Saturday and £12 on Sunday with accompanied children under 15 admitted and Grandstand seating free. Further information is available from Event Manager Claire Jones on 01325 721815.

l After taking nearly two years out of competition due to family commitments, Richmond brothers Mark and Andrew Constantine made a welcome return to the sport recently when the contested the Philips Tour of Mull.

With the help of Tony Bardy Motorsport of Scotch Corner and sponsorship from Ewall Technology of Billingham, Victoria Garage in Richmond and CJ Electrics from Stockton, the team built a brand new Vauxhall Corsa 1400cc with the intention of choosing a few high profile events in order to get used to competition again. The brand new car is lot higher specification than the Vauxhall Nova that they won the BTRDA 1400cc Championship a couple of years ago and they chose to make their debut in it on the closed roads of the Scottish island which is renowned as one of the toughest events in the rallying calendar.

The car was finished the week before the event and the pair set off for Mull in order to spend four days of reconnaissance on the tricky stages. Despite the weather being terrible on the 'recce', brighter skies welcomed the competitors as the rally got underway on the Friday evening. Understandably, the brothers were very nervous with it being their first event for two years, the first event in the car and also first time on an all tarmac event. On the first stage everything was going fine then about a mile from the end, all the lights went out. They had to stop to sort them out and after losing three minutes they managed to get side lights working and limped out of the stage.

With only a couple of minutes emergency service available, the team couldn't sort the problem out immediately so they had to go into the next stage on side lights only causing them to lose more time in the pitch darkness.

At service, the team managed to get two of the spot lights working and the pair set about trying to claw some time back in the last four stages of the night. They finished the leg in the early hours of Saturday morning without too many further problems and were placed 76th overall out of the 150 starters.

Leg two started on Saturday lunchtime and Constantine found driving on the narrow roads a lot easier in daylight than he did in the dark and the first stage was going really well. However, about a mile from the end of the stage they hit a jump over a bridge fairly hard but there didn't seem to be any damage but at the start of the very next stage, the bottom ball joint broke and forced the pair off the road and sadly out of the event.