THERE is no stopping Northwich sidecar racing team, Pete Founds and Jevan Walmsley.
Just 37 days after escaping a horrific crash in the TT with minor bumps and bruises, they returned to the Isle of Man this week to compete in the Southern 100 70th anniversary international championships on a borrowed bike and sidecar unit.
With the TeamFounds72 DDM Honda machine requiring a major rebuild from the May 31 crash and subsequent fire, which led to Founds and Walmsley being airlifted to Nobles Hospital, Pete’s bother Alan Founds handed over the reins to his unit for this event.
And in those circumstances, two podium finishes was an outstanding achievement.
Considering the first night of qualifying was their first time out on the Yamaha rig and against a quality field, Founds posted the second fastest time behind Isle of Man heroes, the Crowe brothers.
Day two’s qualifying also went well, resulting in Founds and Walmsley securing third place on the grid for race one.
They got over the line second behind Ryan and Callum Crowe in a brilliant race on Wednesday and were also pleased to have clocked a 102.028mph lap.
“Back out on the roads doing what we love, when a month ago we didn’t even have a sidecar,” said TeamFounds on their Facebook page.
“Massive thanks to Alan Founds for the loan of his sidecar for this week.”
Race two was last night and again Founds and Walmsley placed second behind the same winners.
“We held the lead for as long as we could but just couldn’t compete with the pace of Crowe Racing #7. They were flying,” said TeamFounds.
“Nonetheless, we still smashed a good speed and happy with our second place.
“It’s been an awesome week at the Southern 100 Road Races, now time to down tools and to celebrate with the team.”
After the scary moments for the multiple TT podium finishers at the end of May, TeamFounds will be relieved to just have been back on track and come through healthy.
A GoFundMe page was set up to allow donations towards the work that is needed to rebuild Founds’ Honda outfit.
Thanks to the incredible support they have received, the target of raising £15,000 has almost been reached.
Founds and Walmsley are record-breaking seven-times winners of the FSRA British Sidecar Championship.
Founds relocated to Northwich from Knutsford, but hails from Wirral.
His three brothers, Alan, Chris and Steve, all have history in the sport.
Team Founds Racing was established more than 54 years ago when their father Des started out – and he achieved a third place TT finish in 1989.
This is not the first sport in which Founds has proven to be a winner.
The former mechanical engineer at Fiddler's Ferry Power Station in Warrington represented Great Britain at under 21s level in ice hockey.
He used to be captain of the now-defunct Flintshire Freeze ice hockey team based at Deeside Leisure Centre.
His experienced sidecar passenger Walmsley hails from Louth in Lincolnshire.
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