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Reigning world champion sidecar racers Tim and Tristan Reeves were forced to pull out of the Dutch round of the world sidecar championship at Assen on Sunday when they encountered problems with the gearbox.
Despite their first non-finish of the year it makes little difference to the Kent brothers as the Eastern Airways team have already accrued sufficient points to secure their second world title in as many years.
Qualifying went well for Tim and Tristan who completed the first session on a dry track at Assen with 0.7 seconds to spare over nearest rivals Delannoy and Guignard.
The second session times counted for nothing as the rain began to fall and although the champions were still the fastest team out there the lap times were considerably slower and the grid was formed on lap times from the previous day with Tim and Tristan heading the grid in pole position.
Still carrying the 30kg of winners ballast the Brothers Reeves set off in search of a further race victory but things didn’t go their way and they soon encountered problems with the gearbox and gradually dropped down the order before retiring on lap 12 of 18. |
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“That’s our first mechanical failure all season,” said Tim. “There was a problem with the gear box which finally gave up the ghost mid race causing us to sit out the remainder of the race and watch the rest of the teams battle it out.”
The final two rounds are at Karlskoga in Sweden next weekend, September 9 & 10 where Tim and Tristan will be doing their utmost to end their season on a high with a couple more wins under their belts. There are 50 points up for grabs but with Reeves already having scored 279 and their nearest rivals Paivarinta and Karttiala now on 208 whatever the outcome of the Swedish races it is impossible for them to be caught and so Great Britain has once again produced the champions. |
