Isle of Man TT 2013: Sure Sidecar Race 1 Results

The 2013 edition of the Isle of Man TT kicked off with the first of two scheduled three-lap Sure Sidecar races.

The favorites going into the race were the DMR duo of Dave Molyneux and his passenger Patrick Farrance. Molyneux won both Sidecar races at last year’s event and is third overall in Isle of Man TT career race wins with 16.

But it was the brothers Ben and Tom Birchall that led in the early going with a 1.3-second lead over four-time Sidecar World Champion Tim Reeves with Dan Sayle about a quarter of the way through the 37-mile mountain course.

The Birchalls continued to increase their lead when their sidecar clipped the bank at Kate’s Cottage and suffered a punctured tire, forcing them to retire after leading much of the first lap. That handed the lead to Reeves and Sayle with a first-lap time of 19:55.928, nearly ten seconds ahead of Molyneux and Farrance in second.

Reeves and Sayle continued to nurse their lead, increasing their advantage to more than 20 seconds after the second lap. With a sizeable cushion, Reeves and Sayles went on to finish their final lap with an overall time of 59:42.957 for an average speed of 113.728 mph.

In the battle for second, Molyneux and Farrance pressed hard for a fast final lap but were pipped by Conrad Harrison and Mike Aylott whose fast final lap gave them an average speed of 113.093 mph, just edging out Molyneux and Farrance who averaged 113.077 mph.

With their win, Reeves and Sayles became the first reigning Sidecar World Champions to win an Isle of Man TT Sidecar race since Jock Taylor accomplished the feat in 1981.

[Source: IOMTT]

By Dennis Chung