2024 Isle of Man TT
3WheelingMedia Sidecar TT Race One
The Crowe brothers took their first TT win on Saturday in the opening Sidecar race of TT 2024. Ryan and Callum stamped their authority all over the race and never really looked like being beaten on the day, despite the close attention of Peter Founds and Jevan Walmsley. Third place went to Found’s brother Alan and their nephew; 21 year old debutant, Rhys Gibbons.
Ben Birchall and Kevin Rousseau didn’t take part after their prang at the Mountain box yesterday afternoon, meaning that Birchall’s domination of the event had come to an end before the flag dropped.
The Crowes led through Glen Helen on lap 1, already enjoying an advantage of 6.3s over Founds and Walmsley, who themselves were 4.4s ahead of Lee Crawford and Scott Hardie. From then the front two opened up comfortable gaps and by the end of the lap Ryan and Callum were 12s ahead of the FHO racing outfit, who in turn were safely circulating almost 30s up on 3rd.
The Crowes completed that first lap at 118.5 mph, and it soon became apparent that their machine was absolutely flying. The Founds/ Walmsley machine was nearly 11mph slower through the speed trap and it appeared as though they had brough a knife to a gun fight. The huge advantage was attributed to aerodynamics and the Crowes were pulling great time on the climb up the mountain.
But Founds and Walmsley were safe in 2nd and the real race was for the final podium place with four outfits contesting 3rd within a second of each other going onto the 2nd lap. Blackstock and Rosney held the position at Glen Helen on lap 2, but by Ballaugh Alan Founds and young Gibbons had nipped ahead by half a second. Crawford and Hardie had dropped back to 5th but multiple world champion, Tim Reeves was just a second back with Mark Wilkes in the chair.
Talking of world champions, current champions Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clement were enjoying a fantastic debut and they recorded a lap time that meant Clement became the fastest female side car competitor ever.
As the race progressed, the Crowes continued to pull away and they had a 30s lead as they went onto the final circuit. Pete Founds was almost a minute up on his brother and nephew also, with Alan and Rhys now in 3rd with 6s of breathing pace.
The top 3 increased their respective leads all the way round the final lap and there was little doubt, that barring a mechanical, that that’s where they would finish.
However, it should be noted that the Crowes did back off slightly, with slower sectors all the way round. Any fans hoping to see a 120mph lap were disappointed, but it mattered not to the brothers from Jurby who crossed the line to bag a famous first TT victory, emulating their famous father, Nick, who won 5 TTs in the first decade of the century. It was the first local Manx win at the event since 2014.
The victory will be a fine occasion for the boys, and it was noted during post-race discussion that as small boys, they used to travel in father Nick’s outfit through the paddock after his own triumphs. Things had come full circle in the Crowe house; yet another story of batons being passed down the generations at the TT to contemplate Michael Dunlop’s earlier win.
Sidecar TT Race One Results
- Ryan Crowe / Callum Crowe Honda LCR
- Peter Founds / Jevan Walmsley Honda DDM +26.894s
- Alan Founds / Rhys Gibbons Yamaha LCR +1m14.380s
- Lewis Blackstock / Patrick Rosney Yamaha LCR
- Lee Crawford / Scott Hardie Kawasaki LCR
- Tim Reeves / Mark Wilkes Honda LCR
- Todd Ellis / Emmanuelle Clement Yamaha CES
- John Holden / Frank Claeys Suzuki Christie
- John Saunders /James Saunders Yamaha LCR
- Conrad Harrison / Ashley Moore Yamaha Ireson
2024 IOMTT Schedule
| Race Week | |
| Race Day 2 Sunday 2 June | |
| 1230 | Roads Close |
| 1330 | Solo Warm Up (1 lap) |
| 1440 | RST Superbike TT Race (6 laps) |
| Rest Day Monday 3 June | |
| Race Day 3 Tuesday 4 June | |
| 1000 | Roads Close |
| 1030 | Solo Warm Up (1 lap) |
| 1050 | Sidecar Shakedown (1 lap) |
| 1145 | RL360 Superstock TT Race 1 (3 laps) |
| 1400 | Metzeler Supertwin TTÂ Race 1 (3 laps) |
| Race Day 4 Wednesday 5 June | |
| 1000 | Roads Close |
| 1030 | Solo Warm Up (1 lap) |
| 1145 | Sidecar TT Race 2 (3 laps) |
| 1400 | Monster Energy Supersport TT Race 2 (4 laps) |
| Rest Day Thursday 6 June | |
| Race Day 5 Friday 7 June (Isle of Man Bank Holiday) | |
| 1000 | Roads Close |
| 1030 | Solo Warm Up (1 lap) |
| 1145 | PE Superstock TT Race 2 (3 laps) |
| 1400 | Entire Cover insurance Supertwin TT Race 2 (3 laps) |
| Race Day 6 Saturday 8 June | |
| 1000 | Roads Close |
| 1030 | Solo Warm Up (1 lap) |
| 1145 | Milwaukee Senior TT Race (6 laps) |
