Isle of Man TT star Tim Reeves concluded his 2012 season with double victory in the final round of the British F1 Sidecar Championship.
Racing at Brands Hatch, the Kent driver, once again with passenger Ashley Hawes, took pole position around the 2.43-mile circuit and went on to take the wins in both races on Saturday.
The results moved him up to second in the championship despite missing a number of rounds due to World championship commitments.
More than a second quicker than anyone in qualifying, the opening race saw arch rivals and second placed qualifiers Jorg Steinhausen and Gregory Cluze get the initial jump off the line. However, by turn two, Druids, Reeves and Hawes were in the lead.
By the end of the first lap, their advantage was 1.4s and it was a gap that increased with each of the 10 laps. Lapping half a second quicker than the rest of the field, by half race distance, Reeves and Hawes were 4.2s ahead, eventually crossing the line 7.5s clear of new British Champions Roger Lovelock and Rick Lawrence.
Race two was a lot closer, Reeves and Hawes coming under pressure throughout from both Steinhausen and Cluze and Lovelock and Lawrence. After taking the lead again on the first lap, there was never more than a second between the trio, with the lead hovering around half a second, but Reeves successfully kept Steinhausen at bay, never allowing him to get closer enough to make a pass.
With three laps to go, the lead stood at 0.8s and with the race ending early, due to a crash involving Ben Bygrave and Paul Knapton, Reeves completed the double to take his 7th win from 10 starts in the championship.
Reeves said:
“It's been a faultless weekend and to end the year with pole position, a double win and the fastest lap is absolutely mint - I really couldn't have asked for any more.”
“The bike was faultless throughout and the first race was pretty text book to be honest, as soon as I got to the front I was able to extend my lead for a fairly comfortable win.”
“The second was a lot harder though with Jorg and Roger both putting me under pressure but I felt that there was a bit more in the tank if needed.”
He added:
“With reclaiming the World Championship, wins at the British Championship rounds and a podium at the TT, it's been a really successful year so I'd like to thank everyone that's made it possible especially Gunther Reuschling, the Haith family, H&S Contractors, Padgetts, Monster Energy, Dave Hudspeth Carpets, SMP Racing, DFDS Seaways, Avon Tyres, Q8 Oils, Maxton, MJK Leathers, Arrow Engineering and my Dad and the whole team.”