Nick Crowe Racing - British F2 Sidecar Championship

Tim Reeves vows to 'dig deep' for second Sure Sidecar outing at 2012 TT
Three-times Sidecar World Champion Tim Reeves will dig deep and give it his best shot when racing resumes at the 2012 Isle of Man TT fuelled by Monster Energy.

His hopes of taking victory in the opening Sure Sidecar race on Saturday were dashed when mechanical problems forced him out on the opening lap.

Despite the set back, he is determined to challenge for top honours in the second Sure Sidecar TT, scheduled for Wednesday.

After setting the second fastest lap of practice at 112.808mph, with new passenger Dan Sayle, hopes were high going into the three-lap race and although they were lying in 3rd at the first timing point, their race was soon over as they were forced to retire.

Practice week had started steadily for Reeves and Dipash Chauhan with a lap of 110.748mph during Monday night's session, but Dips was later forced to admit defeat in his battle to return to competitive racing at the TT after sustaining a broken leg in a short circuit crash in May 2011.

As a result, Reeves drafted in 7-times TT winner Dan Sayle who agreed to come out of sidecar retirement to join Team NCR/Dave Hudspeth Carpets. The partnership immediately gelled and the duo posted a lap of 112.808mph during Tuesday evening's session, which turned out to be the second fastest of the week behind Dave Molyneux/Patrick Farrance.

A breakdown during Friday's final practice session wasn't ideal preparation and left the team with work to do.

Great work by the team saw the LCR Honda ready in time for the race and as the outfits passed through Glen Helen for the first time, the outfit was lying 3rd, 2.5 seconds down on Molyneux/Farrance and 1s down on Ben and Tom Birchall.

However, when they went through the Sulby speed trap at 54.8mph, it was clear all was not well and their race ended soon after and they stopped at Sulby village.

Reeves said:

"It's been a tough week to say the least. After the first couple of practice sessions, Dips had to admit defeat and we were all gutted for him after all the work he's put in, but there was no shame in it and fair play to him for standing up and making the decision in the best interests of the team."

"Dan had obviously decided to retire from passengering last year, but he was in the solo paddock so we approached him and he jumped on board in time for Tuesday. We put in a solid lap and then made a few adjustments to the chassis, but had gone in the direction so ended up going slower."

"We decided to go back to what we knew for Friday, but then had some trouble with the valves and only got as far as the Wagon and Horses before we had to stop so it wasn't ideal preparation.”

He added:

"We were all ready for the race though and were determined to do well, but, although we were in contention at Glen Helen, I could tell the bike wasn't right. After the problems the night before, we discussed what the best strategy was and the plan was to take it steady on the first lap and then go for it after that, but, sadly, we never got that far."

"The more the lap continued, the worse the problem got and with more valve trouble we had no choice other than to pull in.

"It's a massive disappointment for the whole team and we've got a lot of work to do between now and Wednesday, but we'll dig deep to make sure we're on the line and give it our best shot when the flag drops.

Sweet 16 for Moly in second 2012 Sure Sidecar TT race
Dave Molyneux took his 16th TT win when he won the second Sure Sidecar race after he and Patrick Farrance overhauled Tim Reeves/Dan Sayle at the start of the third lap. It was the fifth time the Manxman had completed a Sidecar double at the TT.

Reeves/Sayle flew out of the traps but, ultimately, had to accept second best to the third most successful TT competitor of all time whilst Ben and Tom Birchall took their second podium of the week in third.

With weather on the Island far from favourable, a number of delays meant it was 4.25pm when the race did get underway with drivers warned of damp patches all around the course and the possibility of rain over the Mountain. Lack of adhesion flags were also on display.

It was Molyneux and Farrance who led through Glen Helen for the first time but it was close with the Birchalls just 1.1s behind and Reeves and Sayle only a further 0.6s adrift. Molyneux was some 13mph slower that the Birchalls through the Sulby speed trap and, indeed, the lead had changed hands as they went through Ballaugh. By Ramsey, the Birchalls were leading Molyneux by over three seconds but it had all changed again at the end of the lap and it was Reeves/Sayle who were in front with an opening lap of 111.692mph.

Molyneux/Farrance were still in second but the Birchalls had dropped to third with just over nine seconds separating the trio whilst Conrad Harrison/Mike Aylott, Gary Bryan/Jamie Winn and Dougie Wright/Martin Hull completed the top six.

On the second lap, Molyneux/Farrance were again slower through Sulby but this time it was only 7mph and throughout the 37.73 miles, they were eating into the lead held by Reeves/Sayle. The gap had almost been halved to 3.5s as they swept through Ramsey and it was now seemingly a two horse race with the Birchalls now 13.5s behind the race leaders.

At the Bungalow there was only 1.45s between the front two outfits and as they flashed across the line to start their final lap, there was barely anything to separate them as Reeves continued to lead albeit by the reduced margin of 0.82s. The duo had both lapped in excess of 113mph with the race hotting up whilst the Birchalls still held onto third from Harrison/Aylott, the latter lapping slightly quicker to close to within 11s of a podium place. Bryan/Winn and Wright/Hull remained in fifth and sixth.

At Glen Helen for the final time, the fight back by Molyneux/Farrance continued as they hit the front once more, having turned their deficit to Reeves/Sayle into a 1.75s advantage. As the lap progressed, it was clear they were finding a good rhythm with Molyneux using all his experience and after leading by seven seconds at Ballaugh, it was almost 11 seconds as they rounded Ramsey Hairpin for the final time.

Molyneux/Farrance weren’t to be denied and they duly completed their double with their eventual winning margin a commanding 17.11s. The Birchalls and Harrison/Aylott circulated in close formation for the second half of the race but whilst the former held onto their podium position, the latter dropped out on the final drop down the Mountain. That promoted Bryan/Winn and Wright/Hull up to fourth and fifth with the top ten completed by Greg Lambert/Jason Crowe, Rob Handcock/Ken Edwards, Tony Baker/Fiona Baker-Milligan, Karl Bennett/Lee Cain and Frank Lelias/Charlie Richardson.

No joy for Reeves in opening Sidecar TT race
Tim Reeves’ hopes of taking victory in Saturday’s F2 Sidecar TT race were dashed when mechanical problems forced him out on the opening lap. After setting the second fastest lap of practice of 112.808mph, with new passenger Dan Sayle, hopes were high going into the three-lap race and although they were lying in third at the first timing point, their race was soon over and they were forced to retire.

Practice week had started steadily for Tim and Dipash Chauhan with a lap of 110.748mph during Monday night’s practice session but Dips was later forced to admit defeat in his battle to return to competitive racing at the TT after sustaining a broken leg in a short circuit crash in May 2011. As a result, Tim drafted in 7-times TT winner Dan Sayle who, despite contesting the solo races, agreed to come out of sidecar retirement to join Team NCR/Dave Hudspeth Carpets. The partnership immediately gelled and the duo posted a lap of 112.808mph during Tuesday evening’s session, which turned out to be the second fastest of the week behind Dave Molyneux/Patrick Farrance. However, a breakdown during Friday’s final practice session wasn’t ideal preparation and left the team with work to do.

Great work by the team saw the LCR Honda ready in time for the race and as the outfits passed through Glen Helen for the first time, Tim and Dan were lying in third place, 2.5s down on Molyneux/Farrance and 1s down on Ben and Tom Birchall. However, when they went through the Sulby speed trap at 54.8mph, it was clear all was not well and their race ended soon after and they stopped at Sulby village.

Speaking later, a disappointed Tim said; "It’s been a tough week to say the least. After the first couple of practice sessions, Dips had to admit defeat and we were all gutted for him after all the work he’s put in but there was no shame in it and fair play to him for standing up and making the decision in the best interests of the team. Dan had obviosuly decided to retire from passengering last year but he was in the solo paddock so we approached him and he jumped on board in time for Tuesday. We put in a solid lap and then made a few adjustments to the chassis but had gone in the direction so ended up going slower. We decided to go back to what we knew for Friday but then had some trouble with the valves and only got as far as the Wagon and Horses before we had to stop so it wasn’t ideal preparation."

"We were all ready for the race though and were determined to do well but although we were in contention at Glen Helen, I could tell the bike wasn’t right. After the problems the night before, we discussed what the best strategy was and the plan was to take it steady on the first lap and then go for it after that but, sadly, we never got that far. The more the lap continued, the worse the problem got and with more valve trouble we had no choice other than to pull in. It’s a massive disappointment for the whole team and we’ve got a lot of work to do between now and Wednesday but we'll dig deep to make sure we’re on the line and give it our best shot when the flag drops."