Isle of Man TT 2012: Sidecar TT Race 1 Results

Dave Molyneux won his 15th career Isle of Man TT race with a victory in the first Sure Sidecar TT race of the 2012 festival. The win comes in Molyneux’s return to the Isle of Man TT after sitting out last year’s competition.

By far the most successful Sidecar racer in TT history Molyneux is third overall among riders in any class, behind Joey Dunlop (26) and John McGuinness (18). The win in the first of two Sidecar races at the 2012 TT was however the first for Molyneux’s passenger, Patrick Farrance.

Molyneux and Farrance never trailed in the three-lap race, riding a Kawasaki-powered sidecar rig. They led by almost 14.96 seconds after Lap 1 and 29.47 seconds after Lap 2. Molyneux eased up on the final lap to win with a time of 1:00:04.29, which equates to an average speed of 113.055 mph.

Second place went to brothers Ben and Tom Birchall with a time of 1:00:26.63 (average speed of 112.359 mph) on a Honda sidecar. Third place went to Conrad Harrison and Mike Aylott, also on a Honda, with a time of 1:00.40.89 (average speed of 111.919 mph).

Molyneux’s victory completed a Japanese Big Four manufacturers grand slam, giving him Sidecar TT victories on machines from Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha and Kawasaki.

[Source: IOMTT]

By Dennis Chung