Champions sign off in style at thrilling Brands finale - from Barry Nutley

[steve-e]

Champions sign off in style at thrilling Brands finale
Race One - With the title already wrapped up, the traditional Brands Hatch season closer took place under leaden skies on Saturday, with double points on hand for all crews, and especially those fighting over the other top places in the table. Added spice took the form of three wild-cards running 600cc outfits, and two crews from mainland Europe. A shortened race caused by a brief shower caused tyre confusion and made the outcome something of a lottery. Former World Champions Tim Reeves and Greg Cluze (Remse Racing Yamaha) made the perfect start from pole position, chased by newly crowned champions, the AOS Be-Wiser pairing on Ricky Stevens/Ryan Charlwood. Andy Peach/Charlie Richardson went backwards on the L&W Racing Kawasaki with a broken gear-shift pedal, although second place in the title chase was all but assured for them anyway. With the absence of the injured Kershaw/Wilson pairing, their hard-earned third place was there for the taking by either Roger Lovelock/Aki Aalto, or the Paymundo.com pairing of Tony Brown/Sam Christie. Lovelock reigned supreme in this regard with a fine fourth place behind a re-juventated Sean Hegarty/James Neave. The Felixtowe duo was in typical Brands mood and scrapped hard at the front, eventually muscling past the multiple world champion Reeves at Paddock Hill Bend for second spot. A fine ride by the seasoned campaigner John Holden, ably supported by Stuart Ramsey (Barnes Racing.Silkolene Suzuki) saw him claim fifth and valuable points ahead of a brilliant return to Brands by the Blue Machinery Suzuki of Ben Bygrave, and returning from retirement Johnny Allum At the flag, just two seconds split the podium crews with Stevens getting the verdict, in a thrilling encounter.
Race Result – 1/Stevens/Charlwood, 2/Hegarty/Neave, 3/Reeves/Cluze, 4/Lovelock/Aalto (BB BIkeshop/Phoenix BMW), 5/Holden/Ramsey, 6/Bygrave/Allum, 7/Guy/Evanson (L&W Suzuki), 8/ Drowne/Pilmoor-Brady (Mick Robson Racing Kawasaki), 9/Archer/Thomas (Suzuki), 10/ Holland/Watson (Finning Cat Kawasaki).
Race Two – The final encounter in the 2015 season was an absolute cracker, with a race-long, fairing bashing scrap between a determined Andy Peach/Charlie Richardson ending on a high note, and an equally tough Tim Reeves who, with a slower Yamaha, had to make his time up on the turns and brakes. We saw a brilliant fight through the field by champions Stevens/Charlwood who, for whatever reason, had opted to start at the back of the grid. By half race distance they were in the top six and threatening. Again, Holden and Ramsey showed their class and stayed in touch all the way, to be rewarded with a podium place. The highest placed 600cc team were the Birchall Brothers, who were unable to repeat the impressive performance from the previous round at Silverstone. A solid ride to sixth place saw Lovelock/Alto confirm third place in the table, whilst the Holland/Watson crew rounded off the season with another consistent fifth position. Champions Stevens/Charlwood made it all the way up to fourth, but simply ran out of laps to progress further. The fantastic display of racing at the front however, gave TV and trackside audiences a truly memorable sidecar racing display.
Race Result – 1/Peach/Richardson, 2/Reeves/Cluze, 3/Holden/Ramsey, 4/Stevens/Charlwood, 5/Holland/Watson, 6/Lovelock/Aalto, 7/Bygrave/Allum, 8/Horspole/Connell, 9/Archer/Thomas, 10/Guy/Evanson.
Final Championship Positions – Stevens/Charlwood 431, Peach/Richardson 306.5, Lovelock/Aalto 199, Kershaw/Wilson 180.5, Holland/Watson 163, Brown/Cain/Christie 155.5, Horspole/Connell 147, Reeves/Cluze128, Guy/Evanson 126.5, Holden/Ramsey 114, Drowne/Pilmoor-Brady 110.
RKB-F1 Motorsports would like to thank all teams and associates for the totally professional and business-like manner in which the season was conducted, and look forward to an even bigger and better show for 2016. Check out the RKB-F1 website for all news and updates over the closed season.
http://www.rkbf1-sidecars.com
Media matters barry.nutley@--