By Bright, sunny and great conditions greeted sidecar drivers and passengers for the opening Sure sidecar TT race of TT 2014. At Glen Helen on lap 1 Ben & Tom Birchall lead John Holden/Andrew Winkle by 0.7 of a second with Dave Molyneux/Patrick Farrance not far behind in third place.
As lap 1 went on the Birchall brothers competing for Klaus Klaffenbock’s Cofain racing team stretched out a reasonable lead over John Holden and Dave Molyneux. By the end of lap 1 Ben Birchall/Tom Birchall lead by over four seconds as Dave Molyneux/Patrick Farrance and John Holden/Andrew Winkle lead the chasing pack with both battling over second place.
On lap two though drama struck as the Birchall brothers where involved in a crash at Black Dub. This meant Dave Molyneux was now in the lead of the race by ten seconds over nearest challenger John Holden, Conrad Harrison moved into third position whilst Tim Reeves moved up to fourth place on SMT racing backed outfit.
Molyneux’s lead over Holden grew on lap two as the 16 time TT winner was giving it everything for another TT win on his DMR Kawasaki outfit.
Final lap of the race beckoned with Dave Molyneux’s lead over John Holden a big one with Conrad Harrison not far behind the 2011 sidecar TT race 2 winner. Tim Reeves held fourth position, Ian Bell on his TT comeback proved that he can still mix at the front in sidecar races at Isle of Man TT by holding a top five placing.
Lap three saw at first Dave Molyneux/Patrick Farrance continue to build their advantage out front but then mechanical issues struck the pairings outfit, they where was out of the race which meant now Conrad Harrison/Mike Aylott had hit the front by 0.9 of a second over John Holden/Andrew Winkle.
From here Conrad Harrison made no mistakes to cross the line at the end of lap three to record a popular and well deserved first TT victory.
Photo by Road Racing News
Plus for Mike Aylott who was delighted at winning his first TT race as a passenger. John Holden and Andrew Winkle where runners up whilst Tim Reeves/Gregory Cluze completed the top three finishers.
Ian Bell/Carl Bell recorded a fine fourth place, Karl Bennett/Lee Cain where a highly creditable fifth and Wayne Lockey/Mark Sayers achieved a impressive top six finish. Darren Hope/Paul Bumfrey, Greg Lambert/Kenny Cole, Roy Hanks/Kevin Perry and Gordon Shand/Phil Hyde rounded out the top ten finishers.
Alan Founds/Tom Peters where leading newcomers home in 11th place during a race that had drama aplenty within it and one that brought a supremely popular first TT victory for Conrad Harrison/Mike Aylott. Conrad’s being trying for first TT win since 1993, at last the ever cheerful sidecar driver is a TT winner.
