Crowes Kings of the island

There was a lot of interest in the sidecars at TT’25, but the races themselves turned into an exhibition for local lads Ryan and Callum Crowe, who comfortably bagged both wins. They won both races by over a minute and set a new lap record of 121.021mph in the 3wheeling.media Sidecar TT Race 1. It was utter domination from the Manx brothers.

The crew expected to provide the strongest challenge, that of Peter Founds and Jevon Walmsley, were unable to compete after a scary high speed crash at Rhencullen during practice. The duo, one of only three crews to have achieved a 120mph lap, were lucky to escape with minor injuries after their outfit became airborne, but their machine was written off in the accident, putting their entire season in jeopardy.

Second in both races went to the Ben Birchall/Paddy Rosney pairing, around who there was plenty of pre-event interest. Birchall needs no introduction to sidecar fans, having won 14 TTs previously (with brother Tom in the chair) and being the only other driver to have topped a 120mph lap.

In his first TT with Rosney, there was little expectation that Birchall would be able to best the Crowes if all things were equal, but the pairing improved in almost every session. They set a best lap of 116.896mph in the second outing, closing the gap between them and the Crowes too. It bodes well for next year, with the crew suggesting they’ll be back and working together in 2026.

Third place in both races was the Lee Crawford/Scott Hardie crew. The former British F2 champions were the top runners using standard (non-tuned) engines, a sub-category at this year’s TT. Their Kawasaki power was enough to deliver career best performances for the duo, surpassing their previous best finish of fifth.

Also running a red number board to denote their standard engines, Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clement bagged a pair of fourths in their sophomore TT. The former world champs were the much talked about rookies last year and continue to develop in the way you’d expect from such a talented crew.

Much was made of this year’s newcomers in the sidecars and the standout crew was the Kieran Clarke/Andrew Johnson pairing, who were a mighty impressive fifth in each race.

While the top five positions were, unusually, the same in both races there was some variety further down the leaderboard – with more newcomers making an impression in race two. George Holden and Mark Wilkes were sixth in the second outing, one place ahead of Steve Kershaw and Rhys Gibbons – both crews having retired on the opening lap of the first race.

While the results show the Crowes won both races at a canter at TT 2025, doubling their career wins to four, the improvement shown by some of the new and returning crews suggests sidecar racing is in a good place.

Do we really have to wait another 11 and a half months?