F1 sidecar champions Ricky Stevens and Ryan Charlwood had expected a tough fight to extend their lead in the Championship, and the three races this weekend proved them right.

Sidecar driver Ricky Stevens, from Portsmouth, and his passenger Ryan Charlwood, from Dover, were racing on the familiar grounds of Thruxton, Hampshire this weekend for the fifth round of the British F1 Sidecar Championship.

After a string of bad luck in previous rounds, the 2015 champions were hoping to increase their lead in the rankings and gain a comfortable advantage over rival team Tim Reeves and Greg Cluze.

Ryan said: “We had a decent start to the season with some good points and we’d managed to get six podium finishes up until then, but we really went to Thruxton with the aim to win.

“The two races on Saturday were amazing. We started in pole position. Tim and Greg took the lead at the start both times but we managed to reclaim the top spot twice and end both races with a win.”

Ricky said: “It wasn’t an easy feat, Tim really tried hard to push past us but at the end of the day, we managed to make a run for it and get our first wins of the season.

“Saturday ended on such a high.”

On Sunday, the racing pair’s outfit got hit during a controversial overtaking manoeuvre by their rivals and veered off track.

They rejoined the race, climbing as high as seventh, but dry grass had collected in their radiator when they got knocked off and the engine overheated, forcing them to abandon the race.

Ricky said: “Sunday definitely took the edge off the weekend.

“I will now have to work all week to get the bike ready for the next round at Mallory Park.”

Ryan said: “This was our first DNF (Did Not Finish) this season and it’s never a good feeling.

“I’m really disappointed and angry that this happened but I will channel that in a positive way and use it to train harder and get even better at what I do.”

Ricky and Ryan are now second in the rankings with just eight points separating them from the leaders Tim and Greg.

They will be racing this weekend, 30^th and 31^st July, at Mallory Park for round 6 of the championship and will work hard to regain their lead over their main rivals.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

• Ricky and Ryan are the reigning British F1 Sidecars champions.
• They raced to victory in the 2015 championship for team AOS/Be Wiser with Ricky Stevens, from Portsmouth, as driver and Ryan Charlwood, from Dover, as co-rider.
• In 2015, they also beat the world champions by four seconds, effectively making them the best F1 sidecar racing team in the world at present.
• For the 2016 season, Ricky and Ryan have joined the Quattro Plant Cool Kawasaki team. The newly sponsored team has a new livery and the backing from Bournemouth Kawasaki. The Quattro Plant Cool team also includes British Superbike riders Luke Mossey and Filip Backlund and Supersport rider Andy Reid.

For media information contact:
Sarah-Jane Freni
Account Director
Shooting Star
0117 3131120
sarahjane@weareshootingstar.co.uk

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