Severe rainstorms blighted the Eastern Airways British Sidecar Championship at Knockhill at the weekend but a second and fourth place meant that Team Castrol Suzuki pair Steve Webster and Paul Woodhead returned home with their 44-point championship lead intact.

With torrential rain and high winds in force, Saturday's entire race programme was abandoned, and a hasty rescheduling of the proceedings gave the sidecars a ten-lapper yesterday morning and a 15-lap race in the afternoon.

With tyre selection a complete lottery, Bawtry's Derek Brindley and passenger Neil Miller struck lucky with intermediate tyres for race 1, with practically all the rest of the grid opting for full rain tyres on what turned to a rapidly drying track.

Despite racing on full wets, Webster led the race with just two laps to go, but Brindley's better grip saw him sweep through to a 3.8 second win over Webster.

Said Brindley: "It was a gamble but it paid off and it feels great to get a win.

"We've worked hard this year and everything is just starting to feel good again for me."

Webster could do nothing as Brindley made his run for the flag, adding: "We were on full wets. I thought it was going to get wetter as the race progressed but it didn't, and we just didn't have the grip to stay with Derek."

It was a welcome triumph for Brindley returning to the racetracks after a five-year layoff. He formerly raced at the World Championships, winning the opening round of the 1994 series.

Not surprisingly the utterly atrocious conditions for race two once again meant tyre choice was the crucial factor.

Webster finished fourth, with the relatively unknown Brian Pedder and Rod Steadman taking their first ever win at this level. Race 1 winner Brindley came home tenth.

Pedder had taken the lead from Tim Reeves after three laps, with Webster watching in third. After Reeves came back strongly, grabbing the lead back, Pedder once again had to force a way through, and with six laps run took the lead and stormed away to his memorable victory.

"Everything just came together for us", explained Pedder. "We knew we'd have a good chance and when the opportunity to grab the lead came along there was no way I was turning it down."

Pedder added: "It was just one of those races where everything went like clockwork for us. We've put a lot of effort it in this year so it's great for all the team to get the win."

Webster was philosophical about the whole day.

He said: "In the second race we went for intermediates, but this time it got wetter. We guessed wrong both times, but that's the way it is sometimes. I'll just say congratulations to the lads who made the right tyre choices, they deserved the results they got"

But fortunately for the Easingwold-based nine times world champion, the combination of results with the nearest points challenge to Webster - the Reeves brothers - also getting a fourth and second, means the points difference remains at 44 points in Webster's favour.

"It's a very friendly place at Knockhill, but the weather always seems to be a problem. We even had hailstones. The place seems to have it's own climate.

"One thing came out of it though - we've changed wheels so many times over the weekend I think we'd qualify for jobs with a Formula 1 pit crew now," joked Webster, no doubt looking forward to a pleasant summer's day at Brands Hatch at the end of the month for the next round in the series.

Before that though, he's back on the trail of the UEM European Sidecar Championship with a trip to the fourth round of the series at Most in the Czech Republic next weekend.

Updated: 11:27 Monday, July 05, 2004