Although Reeves came away empty handed from the circuit he did solve the engine problems with the F2 LCR and is now ready to face the challenge of the Isle of Man TT races where he is to make his debut at the end on May.
Qualifying was a close run affair with John Holden and Andy Winkle securing pole just seven hundredths of a second ahead of Reeves. But Reeves never made the start as the outfit suffered an engine failure, the fourth in as many weeks.
After close inspection the problem was discovered and rectified and Reeves was able to take his place on the grid for the start of race two.
Tony Elmer set the pace on the opening lap but Reeves was right behind him managing to hold off the close attention of Nick Crowe as they charged through to start the second lap.
But Crowe was eager for the lead and shot past both Reeves and Elmer. Reeves responded and forged ahead of Elmer and made chase after Crowe. Meanwhile John Holden was quietly planning his move forward and shot past both Elmer and Reeves. The latter responded and took the lead on lap five.
Everything came to a halt when the red flag stopped the race for an incident on Park straight and Reeves had it all to do again at the restart.
But when the race got back underway there was a rush for the lead at Charlie’s and the red flag was again waved.
The final re-start was scheduled for later in the day and on the warm-up lap Reeves shot into pit lane with a problem. This time he decided to call it a day and not risk any further problems.
“We soon discovered what was wrong,” said Reeves. “We burned the clutch out. That was easily rectified and we have now solved the engine problem so the outfit is fine and we are all ready to go for the TT now.”
Reeves will set himself up for the TT by taking in the Jurby races a few days prior to the start of TT practice week.
Reeves and Farrance are also preparing for the defence of their world title with the first round scheduled to take place at Donington Park right at the start of practice for the TT. The race will run on the Sunday of the British Superbike weekend at the Leicestershire circuit.
“It is going to be a hectic few days for us both,” said Reeves. “We have to get the F2 bike to the Island, fly back to Donington Park to set up camp for the world round with the F1 outfit. Fly back to the Island for the compulsory rider briefing on Friday, back to Donington for practice on Saturday then straight back to the Island for the compulsory novice laps on Saturday evening. After that we have to get straight back to Donington for Sunday when we have morning warm-up followed by the race. Then Monday we have to fly back again to the Island when we have our first proper practice session. Phew – talk about carbon footprint – we must be setting a record!!! But its all good fun and we are both looking forward to it.”