Reeves and Hawes take 2012 Sidecar World Championship!



 In the year of the Olympics, Tim Reeves and Ashley Hawes became the latest recipients of a gold medal when they took a brilliant win at Le Mans, France on Saturday to clinch the 2012 World Sidecar Championship. With just four points separating the leading four crews coming into the event, it was very much a case of 'winner takes all' and it was Tim and Ashley who put together a faultless performance. The world title was Tim's fourth, his first since 2007, whilst for Ashley it was his maiden crown.

The weekend got off to a great start for them when they posted the second fastest time in free practice and with everything new on the bike that could be new, they used the session to run in the engine and ensure everything was bedded in successfully. When the second qualifying session came, they were ready to push for a time and a lap of 1m42.925s saw them qualify on the front row of the grid in 2nd place and with less than half a second covering the four crews fighting it out for the World title, the stage was set.



With perfect conditions around the GP circuit, Tim made the perfect start to lead the field through the first few bends and behind him two of his main rivals were immediately out with Pekka Paivarinta/Adolf Hanni coming together with Ben and Tom Birchall. That meant it would be a straight fight between Tim and Ash and Jorg Steinhausen/Gregory Cluze. Tim soon opened up a gap over the German driver but as the race entered its second half, the gap was decreasing and soon Steinhausen was on the tail of Tim. Positions changed hands over the next few laps but, Tim and Ashley were putting in the perfect race and, having successfuly conserved their tyres during the middle of the race, they were able to push on in the final laps and with Steinhausen having no grip left, they edged away. They went on to comfortably take the win for their 4th win of the season whilst it also ensured that they finished on the podium in every race they completed.

Speaking later, a delighted Tim said; "I'm absolutely over the moon to be World Champion again and this has undoubtedly been the hardest one to win. There's been nothing between the leading six outfits all year so to come out on top is truly special. Coming into this weekend, the equation was simple for all four of us - win and be World Champions - and I think it came down to who could handle the pressure the most. With a new engine, brake pads and the like, I did what I needed to do during practice and qualifying and felt confident coming into the race that I had the pace to run at the front and the race simply couldn't have gone any better for us."

"I made an absolute flyer of a start to get straight into the lead and my game plan was to push as hard as I could in the early stages to open up a gap and that's exactly what I did. With Pekka and Ben going out, it was down to just two of us and at half race distance, I eased off a bit to conserve the tyres and that's when Jorg began to pull me in. I knew that he was pushing hard to get with us so when he came by me I wasn't unduly worried and we swapped places a few times, mainly when I outbraked myself going into the chicane. In the final third of the race, I could see my tyres were in better condition than his so with three laps to go, I made my move and pulled away again to take a dream win and a superb World Championship."

"This was my main objective at the beginning of the year so to be World Champion again after a five-year gap is really special. Midway through the season, I said the winners would be the most consistent and the whole team's been brilliant so to be on the podium in all the races we've finished shows how well we've worked. Ash had never competed in a GP before the first round this year and we gelled from the start so I'm chuffed to bits for him that he's World Champion and we're all just ecstatic right now. None of it would have been possible though had it not been for all my loyal sponsors so a big thanks to all of them especially the Haith family, Gunther Reuschling, Derek Brindley (Arrow Engineering), Monster Energy, H&S Contractors, Q8 Oils and John Lawson."


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KMR Kawasaki and Hamilton end Irish road racing season with more success

KMR Kawasaki ended the 2012 Irish Road Racing season on a positive note on Sunday when 21-year old Jamie Hamilton posted some of his best results of the year at the Killalane meeting. Having his second outing at the 3.6-mile venue, Hamilton notched up wins in the Supertwins and Moto 450cc races and took third in the Grand Final on the orange and black KMR Kawasaki machines, backing up his earlier fifth in the Open race.
 
With good, dry conditions all around the course, first up for Jamie was the Open race where he opened his account for the day with a solid fifth place, less than a second behind the vastly experienced Adrian Archibald and he immediately followed this up with 2nd overall in the 125cc/Moto 450cc race where he was having his first outing on a 450cc machine. After a race long battle with the 125 Honda of Sam Wilson, Jamie came out on top, also being the first 450cc past the chequered flag.
 
His penultimate race was the 4-lap Supertwins event which he led from the start and although he came under pressure from Michael Sweeney in the closing stages, Jamie rode an impeccable race to keep his rival firmly at bay for another road race victory. Last up was the Grand Final and having made a few suspension changes to the ZX-10R, Jamie was hopeful of improving his result, which was exactly what he did. Despite being back in eighth on the second lap, he steadily moved his way through the pack and sealed third and the final podium spot on the last lap after a good pass on Brian McCormack.
 
Recently retired team owner Ryan Farquhar also attended the event, and marked the occasion by completing a tribute lap on the machine of his late uncle, Trevor Ferguson.
 
Speaking after the meeting, Jamie commented: "It's been an emotional day for everyone connected with KMR Kawasaki given recent events so I'm really pleased to have given everyone in the camp some good results today. It was a hard day but I kept calm throughout, used my head and am really happy with how the day went. We made a few changes to the big bike so the Open race was more about getting dialled in but I was happy enough with fifth and felt that I could give a better account of myself in the Grand Final. We made some suspension changes and although I was back in eighth on the second lap, I stayed relaxed and kept calm and began to move through the pack. With two laps to go, I could see I was pulling Brian in and on the last lap, I went by and managed to open a gap by the end of the race."
 
"I got a big bike podium at the Bush but this was a 'proper' one as conditions were perfect and everyone was out on their big bikes so it was a great result for me and the team. The Supertwins race saw me get a good win and although I wasn't comfortable with the bike initially, I rode a steady race and it was only on the last lap that I realised Michael was on my back wheel! I just concentrated really hard on hitting all my apexes and braked as late as I dared going into the final corner so knew Michael wouldn't have any room to get by me. The 450cc race was a new experience and something different and although Sam's 125 was quicker, I rode my own race and it paid off, ending up just a couple of seconds behind William Dunlop for 2nd overall and the first 450cc bike."
 
"It's been a real difficult couple of weeks for the team so I'd like to thank them for their continued support and dedicate my success today to Trevor."



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