Parade to celebrate 90 years of TT sidecar racing
1923 saw the beginning of a long history of sidecar racing at the Isle of Man TT as Freddie Dixon and Walter Denny scored a famous victory in their banking Douglas outfit.
Graham Walker, father of commentating great Murray, was second in that pioneering race onboard a Norton combination.
After the initial flurry of interest numbers waned and the race was dropped after the 1925 meeting only to be revived once more in the ‘fifties, albeit on the shorter Clypse course to start with.
From then on the Sidecars have been a mainstay of the TT experience and many of the crews have been added to the list of TT greats such as Florian Camathias, Fritz Scheidegger, Eric Oliver, Stan Dibben, Siggi Schauzu, Jock Taylor and many more.
The 2013 Isle of Man TT fuelled by Monster Energy will see the first ever sidecar only parade to honour this unique history.
Pride of place will go to the outfit of Scottish hero Jock Taylor and his passenger Benga Johansson.
Starting at number one the 700cc Windle Yamaha is the same the pair drove to their fourth TT victory and set the, then, sidecar lap record at 108.29mph which stood for an astonishing seven years.
It’ll be piloted in the parade by Scots team Stuart Muldoon and Chris Gusman who recorded one of the fastest ever newcomer laps on their 1996 TT debut.
The number two position will be taken by local hero Dave Molyneux in an ex-Steve Webster 500cc Windle Yamaha. Moly is not only the most successful sidecar drive in the history of the TT but, with 16 wins to his name, also ranks third on the all-time winners list behind Joey Dunlop (26) and John McGuinness (19).
For the parade he’ll be reunited with Karl Ellison who passengered for him from 1991 to 1993 - they scored back to back wins in the two races held in ‘93.
Another successful partnership being revisited for the event is that of Rob Fisher and Rick Long, out on a 600cc Baker Yamaha. Fisher and Long scored a run of victories together in the late ‘90s and doubles in 2000 and 2002.
In a touching display of the spirit of the TT arch rival Dave Molyneux famously spent a night rebuilding Fisher’s outfit after a spill at May Hill in practice for the 1995 races, despite Dave having problems with his own machine. Fisher went on to win both that year’s sidecar races.
Nine-time winner Mick Boddice will be parading on a 600cc Honda. As well as being a prolific winner of the races Boddice had a remarkable 30 plus years career having started his first TT in 1966 before hanging up the leathers after the 1998 season.
Klaus Klaffenbock will leave the line at number five on the same outfit that took him to his three TT wins in 2010 and 2011. Klaffi now manages the Birchall brothers who have proved to be a force to contend with on F2 machinery as well as the bigger F1 world Championship scene.
2013 will see one of the first long wheel base outfits on the course since the switch to FIM F2 rules in 1990 and, with an F1 1000cc engine, Tim Reeves’s LCR Suzuki is a formidable beast. With Dan Sayle in the chair, this is the same outfit the Kent driver is currently campaigning in the British Championship.
His current F2 outfit will also be seen being steered by his father, Brian, himself a leading British Championship competitor during the 1970s and 80s. Tim's brother, and short circuit passenger, Tristan joins him for the lap.
Former F1 sidecar World Champions, and current TT stars, Ben and Tom Birchall will be out on their 600cc LCR Honda.
1986 race winner Nigel Rollason, after Freddie Dixon only the second person to win races around the Mountain Course on two and three wheels, will be driving the famous blue and white 750cc Barton Phoenix, with Colin Bairnson in the chair.
Local pairing Eric Bregazzi and Jimmy Creer will be on board the 1989 race winning outfit of Dave Molyneux, a TZ750 Yamaha, the duo having enjoyed a successful TT career themselves, with eighth in 1982 and 10th in 1984 being the highlights.
Regular TT competitors Wally Saunders and Eddy Kiff will out on one of only two Trevor Ireson monocoque construction Grand Prix F1 outfits, owned by Ireson himself, with former passenger Alan Blackhurst taking over the controls of Saunders' 1970 750cc BMW where he'll be joined by Alison de Angelis.
Brian Alflatt and Heath Lane will also be BMW-mounted whilst current TT stars Conrad Harrison and Gary Bryan will participate on their usual Shelbourne Honda and Baker Yamaha outfits although on this occasion their passengers will be their respective wives, Samantha and Pam!
Other highlights of the parade will be Sidney Ormrod and Alan Blacklock on the 1958 Berkeley 1293cc Mini which they have won six British Historic Racing Sidecar Championships on, Stuart Applegate/Greg Mahon on a 1971 BMW 1000, John Davies/Ian Gemmell on a 500cc Seeley and Graham Alcock/Broderick Wilson driving a replica of the 1969 649cc Triumph Kneeler that Alcock drove in the 1969 TT.