Sure Sidecar Championship
THE SIDECAR CHAMPIONSHIP
started off on a bad note as the Australian sidecar driver, Dwight Beare, 27, was killed following an accident. Dwight started racing at TT in 2014 and was able to finish 12th in his second race. His passenger, Benjamin Binns, was air-lifted to Nobles Hospital where doctors revealed that he was stable and only had a broken ankle.
The Birchall brothers dominated race one. In fact, the pair of Ben and Tom Birchall went on to create a new lap record when they recorded an average speed of 116.798 mph (188 km/h) on the second lap. However, the brothers ran into trouble with their machine which forced them to retire on the very last lap. This elevated the twain of John Holden and Andy Winkle to the number one spot and also saw Peter Founds and Jevan Walmsley move to second. The final podium place, in race one, went to Alan Founds and Aki Aalto.
Race two of the sidecar championship saw the Birchall brothers return to avenge their retirement in race one. As the race started, the Birchalls got a great start but it was the pair of Dave Molyneux and Daniel Sayle who slipped into the lead early on. These former winners were in for a surprise when the Brichall brothers attacked, chasing Dave and Daniel down. While the Birchalls fought with Molyneux and Sayle, John Holden and Andrew Winkle quietly slipped into the lead as the riders crossed Ramsay. At Grandstand, however, Molyneux reclaimed the lead, followed by the Birchalls in second and Holden-Sayle in third now. On lap two the Birchalls took the lead and Molyneux-Sayle were forced to second with Holden-Winkle still in third.
As the race progressed, the Birchalls went faster and faster, which saw them increase their lead to over 4.5 seconds. They lapped the mountain course at 116.615 mph (187.67 km/h) which was enough for them to extend the lead to 6.2 seconds at the end of lap two.
The race saw some more drama as Molyneux failed to show up at Glen Helen on the final lap. Molyneux-Sayle had retired at Ballig Bridge. This allowed the Birchalls to run away with the win. Molyneux-Sayle’s ouster meant that Holden-Winkle were now promoted to the second place with the third place now being filled by the duo of Tim Reeves and Patrick Farrance. The final order remained the same at the chequered flag. The Birchall brothers were the eventual winners, followed by Holden-Winkle and ReevesFarrance. By winning the final sidecar race of the week, the Brichall brothers had now taken their career TT win tally to four. With a second place in race two and a win in race one, it was John Holden and Andrew Winkle who were declared the overall winners.