WORLD champions Tim Reeves and his passenger, Patrick Farrance, fought a stirring battle throughout the annual Sidecar Burn-up at Lydden on Sunday and just held on to win by a whisker.

Their 1000cc LCR-Suzuki was expected to lead from the start, but it was their Eastern Airways team-mates, Sean and Mark Hegarty (1000 Windle-Yamaha) who seized the initiative.

The world champions had to fight their way through from fourth place, but they clearly had a problem because although they led the last few laps, the Hegarty brothers put in a late burst, took to the grass and almost drew alongside at the finish.

The winning margin was less than three-hundredths of a second.

Reeves, 34, from Bethersden, said: "We’ve had a bit of an electrical problem since we tipped upside down at Brands Hatch two weeks ago and we can’t trace it. The engine almost cut out at one point."

He added: "I heard Sean coming, so I knew it would be a close finish."

Roger Lovelock/Rick Lawrence got the better of Roger Body/Mark Cox in a Suzuki battle for third place.