Tim Reeves took his and SMT Racing's first ever TT win on Saturday afternoon, when together with passenger Dan Sayle he won the first three-lap Isle of Man Formula Two Sidecar race. The duo took the lead towards the end of the first lap and from there were never headed, going on to win the race by just over 20 seconds. For Sayle, it was his eighth TT win, making him the joint most successful passenger in the history of the event whilst Reeves became the first reigning Sidecar World Champion to win a TT race since Jock Taylor/Benga Johansson took both races back in 1981.
With ideal conditions all around the Mountain Course, it was Ben and Tom Birchall who grabbed the early initiative, leading at Glen Helen on the opening lap by 1.3s from Tim and Dan and although they extended their lead to five seconds by Ramsey Hairpin, they went out shortly afterwards after clipping the bank at Kate’s Cottage. That gave Tim and Dan a ten-second lead at the end of the lap and on the second circuit, they continued to extend their advantage as they closed in on pre-race favourites Dave Molyneux/Patrick Farrance. Indeed, with Tim’s best ever lap of the Mountain Course, a speed of 114.608mph, they also took over the lead on the road which gave them a 20s advantage over Molyneux/Farrance.
With the race now wrapped up, save for mechanical misfortune, Tim and Dan duly came home for a superb victory, their eventual winning margin over Conrad Harrison/Mike Aylott 20.117s, Molyneux/Farrance nudged back to third.
Speaking afterwards, a delighted Tim said; "I’m absolutely speechless and completely over the moon. You can’t imagine how much it means to me to win today and as the reigning World Champion, it’s even sweeter. Jock Taylor was my hero when I was growing up so to emulate him is something really special and apart from when my daughter Maisie was born, it’s the best moment ever. On the first lap I was getting boards saying 'P1 +0' and then 'P2 +0' so I knew it was close but when I saw Dave just ahead of me, I couldn't believe it. As soon as I'd caught him on the road, I remembered what John McGuinness had said to me in terms of backing it off on the final lap and that's exactly what I did. Sidecar racing's all about having the best team around you possible so a massive thanks to Dan and all the sponsors especially Robin Croft at SMT, the Haith's, H&S Contractors, Mark 'Brains' Woodage, the Padgetts and everyone else who's helped me. A big thanks as well to Gunther Reuschling, I'm sure he's listening in somewhere."
Team owner Robin Croft added; 'It's a dream come true and to think we only started speaking about this back in Macau last November. I could see the determination and desire in Tim that week so after a couple of glasses of wine, I said 'why don't we try and do it together?'. And here we are seven months later with Tim having fulfilled his ambition and promise. Together with Dan, he did it in style and we're well, well pleased with the pair of them. It's been a difficult practice week and we've had our fair share of niggles but I think it was Joey Dunlop who said 'bad practice week, good race week' and that's what's happened so far. The whole team is thrilled and it's been a great start to race week for us."
The second three-lap Sidecar race is due to get underway at 14.15 on Wednesday but the team will be back out on Sunday with solo rider Dan Stewart contesting the six-lap Superbike race.
Photo - Pacemaker Press International.
