Nick Crowe ensured the Manx domination continued in the F2 Sidecars with his 4th TT victory, his first win with new passenger Mark Cox, although it was a hard fought affair as he overhauled John Holden and Andy Winkle to eventually take control. The sensations of practice, Tim Reeves and Patrick Farrance, proved their world class with a scintillating drive into third, the first podium finish by a newcomer since Jock Taylor in 1978!

Like the solos, their was drama at the start when Dave Molyneux and Daniel Sayle were slow to leave the line and they only got as far as the end of pit lane before their race was over, a suspected clutch problem eliminating them before their race had even begun. Crowe sped by but he found himself 6 seconds down to the flying Holden at Ramsey on the opening lap before finally getting into his stride. He had halved the deficit by the time they flashed past the Grandstand for the first time but, with a lap of 113.50, Holden still led his Manx rival. Steve Norbury was up to third ahead of Simon Neary, Phil Dongworth and Reeves but for Klaus Klaffenbock and Christian Parzer, their race was over early at Parliament Square.

Norbury soon followed them out of the race as they stopped at Handley’s on the second lap but, by now, Crowe and Cox had hit the front and by Ramsey they were four seconds to the good. Neary was looking safe in third whilst their was an almighty battle for fourth going on between Reeves and Dongworth, the duo separated by just 0.2seconds!

With the fastest lap of the race, 115.06mph, on his second circuit Crowe continued to press home his advantage and was almost ten seconds clear at two-thirds race distance. Holden was battling manfully to stay in touch but it was to no avail and Crowe eventually came home 19.44 seconds clear. Their was heartbreak for Neary on the final lap when he retired but this paved the way for Reeves to step into the final podium spot and, lapping above 111mph, he got the better of Dongworth, with Stu Castles in the chair, by just 2.8 seconds, a phenomenal performance by the course newcomer.

Nigel Connole and Dipash Chauhan had a great ride on their LCR Honda outfit into fifth just ahead of last year’s best newcomer Dougie Wright, partnered on this occasion by Stuart Bond. Gary Bryan/Robert Bell, Tony Elmer/Darren Marshall, Roy Hanks/Dave Wells and Greg Lambert/Sally Wilson completed the top ten.

The French team of Jean-Louis Hergott and Christophe Darras were involved in an incident at Waterworks. Hergott was uninjured but Darras was reported as having an ankle injury.


Provisional Finishers List

Lap by Lap Results