Ryan and Callum Crowe made it three wins at the Isle of Man TT Races with a dominant display in Monday’s opening 3wheeling.media Sidecar TT Race. Racing their Opul/Kelproperties LCR Honda, the Manx brothers set a blistering new lap record of 121.021mph and crossed the line more than a minute clear of their nearest rivals. Ben Birchall and newcomer passenger Patrick Rosney claimed second place, while Lee Crawford and Scott Hardie rounded out the podium in third.
Conditions were near-perfect on the Mountain Course as the race — shortened from three laps to two — began at 2:00 p.m. The Crowes wasted no time asserting themselves, leading through Glen Helen on the opening lap with an early advantage of 11.3 seconds over Birchall and Rosney aboard the Hager/Wyckham Blackwell LCR Honda.
Just behind them, there was almost nothing in it between Blackstock/Lawrence (Dave Holden Racing LCR Yamaha) and Crawford/Hardie (Team ARC/SJH Bodyworks LCR Kawasaki), with only 0.1 seconds separating the two outfits and Crawford/Hardie another two seconds adrift in fourth. In fifth were Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clement (Brookland Sand & Aggregates CES Yamaha), a further 1.5 seconds behind.
Newcomer George Holden, paired with Mark Wilkes, slotted into sixth on the Barnes Racing DMR Yamaha. Meanwhile, fellow debutant Steve Kershaw and his passenger Rhys Gibbons retired early on at Ballacraine aboard their Express Tyres/Quattro Group LCR Honda.
At the front, the Crowes were relentless, clocking the fastest-ever sector from Glen Helen to Ballaugh to push their lead out to 20 seconds. Meanwhile, the fight for second remained tight, with just 1.7 seconds separating Birchall/Rosney, Blackstock/Lawrence, and Crawford/Hardie. Ellis/Clement began to lose touch, falling six seconds back, while Holden/Wilkes led fellow newcomers Clarke/Johnson (Eddy’s Moto CES Yamaha) by a slim 0.6-second margin.
By the time they reached Ramsey, the Crowes had extended their lead to 25 seconds and were well within striking distance of the lap record. The battle for second intensified, with only 2.8 seconds covering Birchall/Rosney, Blackstock/Lawrence, and Crawford/Hardie.
Though the Crowes eased their pace slightly in the latter half of the lap, they still posted a rapid 119.418mph opener, giving them a commanding 36.2-second lead over Birchall/Rosney (115.731mph). Blackstock/Lawrence followed closely at 115.488mph, just 2.4 seconds behind, with Crawford/Hardie a further half-second back. Rounding out the top six were Ellis/Clement (113.518mph) and Clarke/Johnson (112.560mph), while Dawson/Sims impressed in seventh, notching their first-ever 110mph+ lap at 110.689mph.
The Crowes picked up the pace again at the start of lap two, setting yet another fastest-ever sector from the start line to Glen Helen, and again through to Ballaugh. By the time they flew over Ballaugh Bridge for the second time, they were running over five seconds ahead of lap record pace. Birchall and Rosney had tightened their grip on second, stretching their advantage over Crawford/Hardie to 6.4 seconds, while Blackstock/Lawrence pulled off at Barregarrow to make adjustments.
From Ballaugh to Ramsey, the Crowes continued their record-breaking charge, running 10 seconds faster than the existing lap record. That margin narrowed slightly to 7 seconds at the Bungalow, but they held on to complete a phenomenal 121.021mph lap—securing both the race victory by a margin of 1 minute 17 seconds and rewriting the sidecar lap record books.
Birchall and Rosney (116.713mph) clocked their best lap of the week to seal second place, finishing 17.3 seconds ahead of Crawford/Hardie (115.363mph), who celebrated their first TT podium. It was also a debut podium for Rosney. Ellis and Clement (114.102mph) took fourth, just behind Clarke/Johnson (114.221mph), with Clarke becoming the fastest ever sidecar newcomer at the TT.
Holden and Wilkes capped a strong performance with sixth place, their final lap at 112.758mph enough to keep them ahead of the Ramsdens. Blackstock and Lawrence rejoined to finish eighth, with Lambert/Haynes and Dawson/Sims rounding out the top ten.
Photos: Isle of Man TT Races
