TT Sidecar star Nick Crowe has described for iomtoday what it felt like to lap the Mountain Course in an outfit for the first time since his near fatal accident in 2009.

And despite making it only as far as Gorse Lea, not to mention suffering ill-fitting leathers and a dose of the flu, he said he had really enjoyed the trip.

‘It was a great experience,’ said Nick, after the Mountain Course Centenary parade lap during the TT where he was passenger in the famous 1920s Freddie Dixon banking sidecar outfit.

‘It’s not often you get a chance to go round in the first ever winning sidecar outfit,’ he added.

‘You could say I now hold two records – one for the fastest lap and one for the slowest,’ he quipped.

In the event, the rear cylinder of the machine’s flat twin engine seized, ending their trip less than one third of the way around the course.

‘It was the first time since the accident that I have been in an outfit, so it felt a bit unusual,’ he said.

‘It felt strange to put a set of leathers on again – I had to breath in a bit because they were from 2008. I felt awful - full of a chest infection and cold - I felt as if I was dying but then I was disappointed when we stopped.

‘It was a great experience and the crowd gave us one hell of a reception. I want to say a big thank you to the Milntown Trust who lent out the sidecar to take part in the parade lap.

‘It was certainly different, very enjoyable and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, different from today’s outfits: I think the average sidecar lap speed in 1923 was around 53mph! and I think reliability was a big issue at that time.’


In 2007 Nick set the current sidecar TT lap record at 116.667mph and has won the sidecar race five times.

During the 2009 TT, as he was leading the race, a hare ran out in front of the outfit at Ballacob on the approach to Ballaugh village, causing him and passenger Mark Cox to crash. The race was red-flagged and both suffered serious injuries requiring months of hospital treatment.

Since then, Nick has been a team manager with the sponsorship and backing of Dave Hudspeth Carpets.

Last year driver Simon Neary was passengered by Paul Knapton and this year by Dipash Chauhan. Unfortunately, a pre-TT crash at Cadwell Park left Dipash with a broken leg putting him out of this year’s racing. Nick is now hoping to find a stand-in passenger so his team can compete in this year’s Southern 100 races at Billown.