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Reigning world sidecar champions Tim and Tristan Reeves stormed back to regain their series lead at Castle Combe on Sunday when they won both races in the 2006 FIM Superside World Sidecars Championship in round two of the series.
Tim and Tristan were already carrying a 10Kg weight handicap bestowed on them by race organisers when they secured the win in the Gold Race at Schleiz in the opening round so were at a slight disadvantage in qualifying on Saturday. But it made little difference to the Kent pairing who blasted the opposition to claim pole in a time of 1m 12.92s – 91.33mph.
The first of the two world championship races was the short 10-lap Sprint race where Andy Laidlow and Patrick Farrance chased Tim and Tristan all the way to the finish line. The two outfits pulled clear of the pursuing pack to claim first and second places respectively with the world champions laying claim to the 25 championship points on offer to regain the series lead.
Another glorious sunny day greeted the riders on Sunday at Castle Combe and the packed spectator banks were anticipating some class racing from the sidecar boys.
Tim and Tris were a little apprehensive of their chances of completing the double as they were awarded a further 10kg of weight because of their win in the sprint making 20kg of extra weight fastened onto the LCR chassis.
As the 22-lap Gold Race got underway it was Tim and Tris who leapt straight into the lead. But again Laidlow and Farrance stayed with them, the two outfits pulling away from the pack.
As the race progressed the two leaders steadily pulled clear to establish an 11 second advantage on lap seven. But Laidlow was not giving up and showed Tim his nose cone at the start of lap eight. Tim responded to retain his lead but when the pair encountered some backmarkers Laidlow took his chance and forged ahead. |
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But the move was mirrored one lap later and Tim regained his position before pulling away taking out a couple of seconds a lap from his opponents until he reached the chequered flag at the end of the 22 laps to secure his second win of the weekend and extend his lead in the current campaign.
“Because we had a full fuel load onboard and also the 20kg weight handicap the first 10 laps were an absolute animal to ride,” said Tim. “But once the fuel load started to come down we were able to up the pace a bit. Our fastest time was set on lap 13 and we just carried on from there.”
The next round is at Assen as part of the MotoGP round on June 24 where Tim will be handicapped with a further 10kg of weight making it 30kg in all.
“Obviously I am not too happy with that,” said Tim. “More from the safety aspect than anything. Even the chassis designer is not very happy with the weight penalties but rules are rules so we just have to go along with it.”
The spectators were entertained on the grid by the Stingers cheerleaders from Smileys Dance School. The girls, including Tim and Tristan’s sisters Tanya and Tara performed a routine to spur on their champions as they began their second race on Sunday
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