Mystery electrical problem halts Isle of Man TT star's championship charge
Wednesday 18 July 2012
TT
A mystery electrical problem robbed Isle of Man TT sidecar regular Tim Reeves and multiple winner Dan Sayle from battling for the Sidecar championship title at last week’s Southern 100.
Three-times World Champion Reeves, making his debut on the 4.25-mile Billown circuit in the south of the Isle of Man, was forced to retire on lap two of the championship race on Thursday.
He said the cause of the electrical problem remains a mystery, adding: “We've simply no idea what happened”.
Reeves and Sayle set a strong practice pace and, with the fastest lap to their credit, went into Tuesday's six-lap race as favourites.
Taking the lead off the line, the pair’s outfit was never headed and, aided by the fastest lap of the race at 97.084mph, they were able to continually edge away from the pack.
At the end of the race, their lead over Ian and Carl Bell was more than seven seconds.
Thursdya’s championship race saw Reeves and Sayle lead into Ballakeighan corner and, just like Tuesday's race, begin to edge away from the field.
However, with a decent lead having been opened up, their race ended when the outfit stopped suddenly on the approach to Stadium Bends and with no power from the outfit, they had to watch the rest of the race from the sidelines.
Reeves said:
“It's been a bit of a mixed week really and everything was going perfectly up until the final race!”
“I immediately gelled with the course and felt really happy so Dan and myself were able to set some good times in practice and felt good going into the first race. It went according to plan and we led from start to finish, ending up with a healthy gap at the chequered flag. I just kept it clean and tidy and we just went quicker and quicker every lap - it was faultless.”
He added:
“We again got a dream start in Thursday's race and were edging away nicely with a good gap when the bike just stopped dead on the approach to Stadium. I felt the win was ours and we've simply no idea what happened.”
“When we stripped the engine down and plugged in the laptop, everything seemed to be working fine and the battery voltage was good so it really was one of those mysterious electrical problems.”
“I'm gutted not to have won and complete the double, but I loved the meeting and we were really well looked after so a big thanks to George Peach and his team - I'll definitely be back.”
“A big thanks to all the team too, especially Dan, Nicky Crowe, Dave Hudspeth Carpets, the Haiths and H&S Contractors. We couldn't get the Championship this year, but we'll be back in 2013 to give it another go.”
Reeves is back in World Championship action this weekend, defending his title lead at Schleiz, Germany.