CHRIS LAKEY Wymondham racer Mick Finnie is sitting pretty at the halfway mark of the British Sidecar Championships series, although he had to do it the hard way as he claimed a first and a second at Cadwell Park on Sunday.

CHRIS LAKEY

Wymondham racer Mick Finnie is sitting pretty at the halfway mark of the British Sidecar Championships series, although he had to do it the hard way as he claimed a first and a second at Cadwell Park on Sunday.

Finnie, who has former British champion Sean Starbuck riding passenger, has finished seven of this season's eight races, and not finished outside of the top three.

That record continued at Cadwell, but not before a few obstacles were thrown in Finnie's way.

In the first race, Finnie had qualified fourth on the grid, but halfway through the second lap he was pushed into a spin and had to wait for the whole of the grid to pass before he could resume the race.

It left him 30 seconds adrift, but a stunning response, much of it due to rising anger, saw him win the race by eight seconds - although he was initially unaware of the fact.

"I didn't know I'd won the race at first," he said. "It wasn't until someone told me. I just kept overtaking people - the red mist came down and that was it."

Race two was somewhat easier when Finnie, having become bogged down in traffic, settled for position and came home second.

After three rounds it leaves Finnie and Starbuck, racing for the BSK racing team, just seven points off of top spot in the series, and a massive 50 points clear of third place. And with three to go, they're sitting comfortably- although they may rue the one non-finish when an electrical problem while in second place cost them 30 valuable points.

"If we'd finished we would be top," said Finnie.

"But it's looking good for the season. We've been a lot more reliable and we're confident."