British f1 report for front from Barry Nutley

[steve-e]

Reeves takes victory, but Lovelock leads after dramatic Oulton.
Qualifying – After a thoroughly wet and cold Saturday night, Sunday qualifying was dry, sunlit and fast. In near perfect conditions, reigning World Champions, Tim Reeves and Greg Cluze (Team E-Aide Motorsport Kawasaki) stamped their mark with a strong pole position, from AOS Be-Wiser Kawasaki’s Ricky Stevens and Ryan Charlwood. With only twenty points from his Donington opener, Reeves was always going to give himself the best chance for the race, and he did just that. Andy Peach/Charlie Richardson (L&W Kawasaki) and reigning champions Sean Hegarty/James Neave (Hegarty Racing Suzuki) filled the next two grid slots from Tony Brown/Sam Christie (Paymundo.com Kawasaki) and Roger Lovelock/Aki Alto (Driverwolf BMW) despite the latter team retiring on the final lap of the session.
Race – A huge Bank Holiday Monday crowd witnessed top-class F1 Sidecar Racing. Fourteen laps of Oulton were always going to be a challenge for many of the teams, and that proved to be the case. We saw a mixture of mechanical retirements, race fatigue and general misfortune. The first piece of chaos ensued at the start, when a collision between Andy Peach, Ricky Stevens and Sean Hegarty caused the retirement of the AOS Be-Wizer Kawasaki pair. Peach too was damaged and unable to continue. At the front though, there was no such problem for Tim Reeves/Gregory Cluze. They established a three second gap over Sean Hegarty/James Neave, which they had extended to ten seconds by the flag. Tony Brown/Sam Christie (Paymundo.com Kawasaki) did their overall position the world of good, with a strong third place, once they had surrendered to Hegarty. Former Champion Lovelock was consistent in fourth, and was rewarded with the series lead at the end of the day. Behind him, there was glory for Martin Kirk/Ben Hughes, veteran Brian Gray/Ben Ransley (BGR Powerbikng Yamaha and a limping Gary Horspole nursing injured passenger James Connell. Theirs was a gutsy displayto collect nine championship points. Retirements came thick and fast, with only ten crews completing the distance. Andy and Phil Sloane finished a career best tenth of six points.
Race Result – 1/ Reeves/Cluze, 2/ Hegarty/Neave, 3/ Brown Christie, 4/ Lovelock/Alto, 5/ Gray/Ransley, 6/ Kirk/Hughes, 7/ Horspole/Connell, 8/ MacLaurin/Hope, 9/ Holden/Sayle, 10/ Sloane/Sloane.
Standings – Lovelock/Alto 67, Stevens/Charlwood 65, Birchall/Birchall 50, Kershaw/Wilson 45.5, Reeves/Cluze 45, Brown/Christie 43.5, Peach/Richardson 42.5, Hegarty/Neave 33, Guy/Edwards 28.5, MacLaurin/Hope 26.5.

Round Four of the series come from the Snetterton 300 Circuit 19/20/21st June

[Bill Lymburn]

55% attrition, shocking....

[steve-e]

Nearly as bad as the 2 stroke days, or even British engines.