SIDECAR racer Dave Holden was left cursing his luck after his bid to win this year's Festival of Sidecars was wrecked by another competitor.

Holden was set for an appearance on the podium after finishing third in the opening heat at Mallory Park's traditional end-of-season celebration.

But the Great Harwood rider was forced out of the second race following a mistake by fellow competitor Perry Miller.

Explained Dave: "I was about to pass Miller on the approach to Gerrards, when he moved over on me. We banged fairings and I spun off the track.

"When the machine hit the wet grass it picked up speed instead of slowing down. I reckon we must have been doing at least 90mph for 200 yards, and most of that was backwards.

"Luckily for us, we missed the armco and just kept going. I remember looking over and seeing us overtake the backmarkers as we headed infield!"

With passenger Ben Birchall bravely clinging on in a bid to slow down the runaway outfit, a shaken Holden was fortunate to escape with only a smashed fairing.

The damage was enough, though, to end any further interest in the Festival.

"There was no point in carrying on. We were lucky to escape serious injury so we quit while we were ahead," he added.

The retirement was doubly frustrating for Holden, who was denied a certain victory in the opening seven-lap race.

After qualifying third, he beat pacesetters Tom Hanks and Steve Abbott away from the line, only to see his lead disappear when the race was stopped due to an accident further down the field.