Crowe completes double in Sidecar best race for many years
Nick Crowe and Mark Cox completed a TT Sidecar double after a tremendous battle on the tack with 13 times winner Dave Molyneux and Daniel Sayle. World Champion Tim Reeves and Patrick Farrance took sixth place to complete a sparkling debut.
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 Crowe completes second double in epic Sidecar Race B Nick Crowe and passenger Mark Cox completed their sidecar double with victory in a race that will live long in the memory of those lucky enough to have seen it. For Nick it was his fifth TT win and his second double victory. This was a real test of all of the teams and a true result because the first ten crews on the first lap completed the race. There were concerns before the off that the gremlins that ended Dave Molyneux’s race after the first few metres of lap one and that seemed to haunt Klaus Klaffenbock would spoil this race as well; thankfully that was not the case. Conditions for the race were again good; with the headwind on the mountain the only problem facing the crews. The tap on the shoulder and Dave Molyneux and Daniel Sayle were on their way. A somewhat over enthusiastic approach to Ballacraine cost them a little time and they were in third place at Glen Helen 0.9s behind the black Relentless by TAS Suzuki outfit of John Holden and Andy Winkle; who were in turn 2.4s down on the black Honda outfit of Nick Crowe and Mark Cox. Over the humpbacked bridge at Ballaugh Molyneux had taken second from Holden. At Ramsey it was the screaming Suzuki engined outfit of Dave Molyneux that broke the afternoon quiet as they began the mountain ascent for the first time. Nick Crowe and Mark Cox were next and they had halved the starting interval as they too headed up May Hill and on towards the mountain climb. Holden and Winkle were next; 20 seconds behind Crowe on the road; but just 10 on corrected time. The action was excellent as the outfits slewed right then left before blasting along the short straight leading to the rising right hander at Cruickshanks; a great vantage point for those who do not mind standing. Our watch had Steve Norbury/ Rick Long fourth; Klaus Klaffenbock/Christian Parzer fifth and Phil Dongworth/Stuart Castles sixth; with just 11 seconds covering fourth to eleventh places. Over the mountain Crowe continued to hunt down the blue machine in front. As they crossed the start line there was just under 1 second between them on the road; Crowe having lapped at 114.3mph and Molyneux at 113.445mph. The first 8 crews managed to lap at over 110mph; despite the headwind on the mountain. The top six was completed by Holden / Winkle; Klaffenbock / Parzer; Norbury / Long and Dongworth / Castles. Nick Crowe took the lead on the road on the run from Quarter Bridge to Braddan Bridge. If he thought that was the end of the race he was wrong. Try as he might he could not shake off Molyneux. Molyneux tried to pass on several occasions but could not quite make it stick. The spectacle of the two dicing side by side in short circuit style thrilled the spectators gathered all around the 37.73 miles of the circuit. The time difference was always 10 seconds plus a few metres for the remainder of the race as the two finest crews slugged it out like a couple of heavyweight boxers for the remainder of the race. At the presentation they agreed to swap back the paint that they had exchanged during this most memorable of races. The absolute faith that they have in each other was obvious on and off the track; their friendship also clear despite their rivalry on the race track. Indeed the mutual respect of all the leading crews was very evident at the prize presentation. At Ramsey on lap 2 Nick Crowe led by about 15 metres, giving photographers a chance to have the two crews in one frame (see our gallery!). Molyneux had increased his advantage over Holden to 16.8 seconds. Fourth to sixth were: Norbury / Long; Klaffenbock / Parzer and Dongworth / Castles. One piece of bad news was that Kenny Howles and Doug Jewell had crashed their outfit at the 11th Milestone and been taken by helicopter to Noble’s Hospital. Kenny’s injuries were not believed to be serious but Doug was placed into intensive care with serious leg injuries; we hope that both will soon make full recoveries from their injuries. At the end of the lap Nick Crowe, having upped his lap speed to 114.544mph, led by 10.36s. The one change in the order from Ramsey was that Tim Reeves and Patrick Farrance had edged into sixth, just 1.5s ahead of Dongworth / Castles. Lap three saw the exciting paint swapping duel at the front continue with Molyneux’s Suzuki having slightly better acceleration than Crowe’s Honda but just lacking the top end speed to make a pass stick; on Sulby Straight the Honda was 4mph quicker than the Suzuki. At Ramsey the gap was still 10 seconds plus 15 metres as the two leading crews blasted towards their final mountain climb. Behind them the order remained as it had been at the start of the lap. As the others also set of towards the mountain climb we hoped that Klaffi would at last stay the distance and gain a silver replica as some consolation for the run of mechanical failures that have dogged him in the last three years. His machine did stay the distance and it was a very pleased Klaus Klaffenbock and Christian Parzer who duly collected their prized trophies; hopefully this will be enough to ensure that they return next year. At the end of the best Sidecar race for many years it was Nick Crowe and Mark Cox who took the winners’ laurels by 10.55 seconds from Dave Molyneux and Daniel Sayle. Dave’s move to Suzuki gave him the new challenge that he was looking for, but whilst the engine is very good the electronics were not so well thought of. It took a midnight session to have new system fitted and the engine tested to allow Dave and Daniel to take their place on the grid. John Holden and Andy Winkle duly took their second podium place of the week; but seemed a tad disappointed at the presentation; next year they will be looking for the top step of the podium. The competition for that place will be intense because Tim Reeves and Patrick Farrance will have learned a huge amount from their debut and will be themselves pushing for a win. This was sidecar racing at its very best, with exciting duels right throughout the field; more of the same next year please. 1. N Crowe / M Cox 113.989mph 2. D Molyneux / D Sayle 113.116mph 3. J Holden / A Winkle 112.585mph 4. S Norbury / R Long 112.144mph 5. K Klaffenbock / C Parzer 112.117mph 6. T Reeves / P Farrance 111.342mph 7. P Dongworth / S Castles 110.830mph 8. S Neary / J Winn 110.851mph 9. N Connole / D Chauhan 109.801mph 10. D Wright / S Bond 109.049mph 11. G Lambert / S Wilson 108.370mph 12. G Bryan / R Bell 108.360mph
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