With the start numbers for all the solo classes already revealed for the 2023 Isle of Man TT Races, today the top 10 drivers and passengers for the two 3wheeling.media Sidecar Races have been announced.
It’s as-you-were at number 1, with Ben and Tom Birchall once again leading the charge on their Steadplan/Hager LCR Honda. With twelve wins already to their name, including victory in the last nine races to take place, they’re red-hot favourites to increase that tally in June.
Entry forms for the Spring Cup meeting at Oliver’s Mount, Scarborough are now out. The meeting is on 15/16 April with a closing date for entries on 6 March. If there are not enough entries by the closing date the organisers will have no option but to drop the class, which is something they really do not want to have to do.
Oliver’s Mount is a great circuit to race at and being the only real road circuit in Great Britain is a great one to have on your CV, especially if you are planning on doing the TT or S100 at some time in the future.
So come on you slidey teams, get your entries in early and don’t leave it until the last minute as so often has happened in the past and the reason why some clubs dropped the sidecar class at various meetings or even altogether. Lets keep sidecars alive at Oliver’s Mount. Unfortunately national licences are an ACU requirement for all competitors.
I haven’t had a chance to read all the way through yet (hardly read it at all to be honest), but there are a couple of points that have been brought up in conversation with Mark and Tim that you may want to look at before heading off to the Island.
6.2. All main mounting pins/plates such as forward of the steering head must be secured to the bodywork with a steel plate no smaller that 100mm square. This must be both riveted and bonded (e.g. fibreglass/resin) to the bodywork in order to render it a permanent and secure fixing point. For verification purposes all Rivet Heads must be intact and visible on the outside of the bodywork.
6.3. There must be no fewer than four main mounting pins/pegs secured with “R” clips dispersed appropriately around the main bodywork. All bodywork fixing pins/pegs must always be secured with “R” clips or similar.
It is with a great sadness that I have been asked to let everyone know that Jenny Wells has passed away this morning after a very short battle with cancer.
I am in a state of shock here. The last I heard from Jen was not that long ago when she was saying she wouldn’t be doing any more photography due to illness and then just days ago that she was too weak for treatment.
Jen my friend, you will be missed at race meetings. Not only for the photos you loved taking and that were appreciated so much by so many, but for the proper laughs we had at circuits everywhere, if ever there was a chance to laugh at anything I got wrong you were always there.
Details of further arrangements will be posted when they are ready. I will see you all at The Revival
I’ll have one or maybe even two for you there Jen, and I won’t be alone in doing so. xx
Ben and Tom Birchall won a shortened 3wheeling.media Sidecar TT race on Friday afternoon, the race being stopped due to an incident at Ago’s Leap when the majority of competitors were on their second lap.
It is with deep sense of sorrow that the Isle of Man TT Races can announce the loss of Roger and Bradley Stockton following an incident on the final lap of the second Sidecar Race of the 2022 Isle of Man TT Races.
Roger and Bradley were father and son, and driver and passenger respectively.
We extend our deepest sympathy to their families, loved ones and friends.
Aged 56, today marked Roger’s 20th race start in his 11th TT appearance. Bradley, aged 21, was competing in his second race at his first TT. Racing together, they recorded an impressive 8th-place finish in the first Sidecar Race of TT 2022, with a best lap at an average speed of 106.00mph.
Whilst it was Bradley’s first TT as a competitor, it was by no means his first experience of the TT, having grown up in the paddock and made his first visit as a one-year old. Aged 16, he decided that he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and asked if he could race alongside him as his passenger. Once he had returned to the Isle of Man to begin studying the course, he said ‘he couldn’t wait to race in the TT‘.
Roger’s first TT was in 2000. He competed regularly until 2008 and returned in 2010, 2017, and for this year’s event. Speaking earlier in the year, he said: ‘I’ve retired a few times before, but always come back for my love of the sport. Going around the course with my own flesh and blood will be incredible.’
The loss of two members of our paddock and two people from the same family is truly heart-breaking, but the bond between a father and son who achieved their dream to compete together at the TT provides us with a glimmer of light at such a dark time.
Ben and Tom Birchall lived up to expectations on Monday afternoon and led the opening 3wheeling.media Sidecar TT race from start to finish, the Haith Honda duo lapping at 119.22mph, just a fraction outside their own lap record, to win their 11th TT and eighth in a row.
