Klaus Klaffenbock and
Daniel Sayle won a thrilling first Sure
Sidecar race late on Saturday evening,
coming home just 2.63 seconds clear of
Dave Molyneux and Patrick Farrance with
Tim Reeves and Dipash Chauhan overcoming
a troublesome practice week to finish
third. Klaffi became the first
non-Manxman to win a Sidecar race since
2003 and the first Austrian competitor
to win a TT since Rupert Hollaus won the
Ultra Lightweight race in 1954.
Klaffenbock and Sayle
got off to a flying start to lead at
Glen Helen on the opening lap but it was
close as John Holden and Andy Winkle
were only 0.8s adrift. Molyneux, the
pace setter in practice, was back in
third 1.4s further back with Simon Neary/Paul
Knapton in fourth and Reeves in fifth.
Just 5 seconds covered the top five at
the end of the first lap.
Klaffenbock and
Sayle still led at Ramsey Hairpin and
had increased their lead by half a
second whilst Molyneux was now a further
four seconds back. Reeves had overhauled
Neary for fourth with Conrad
Harrison/Kerry Williams still holding
onto sixth. Klaffenbock flew over the
Mountain though and with a lap of
113.886mph, he completed the first lap
over six seconds in front of Holden but
Molyneux was closing in, now just 2.2
seconds behind.
Former World
Champion Klaffenbock kept the pressure
on during lap two and was rewarded with
an extended lead when they swept through
Glen Helen for the second time, his
advantage now up to 7.8 seconds. Holden
too had edged away from Molyneux who
was, in turn, coming under pressure from
Reeves, another ex-World Champion, the
deficit now only two and half seconds.
With his fastest
lap ever of the Mountain Course,
114.733mph, Klaffenbock’s lead was now
almost ten seconds at the end of lap two
with Molyneux now in second, the Manxman
lapping a shade slower than Klaffenbock
to overhaul Holden. Behind, the crews
were holding station with Reeves, Neary
and Harrison rounding out the top six.
Klaffenbock
appeared to be controlling things at the
front and this was confirmed at Glen
Helen with a lead of over ten seconds.
Holden was still in third but he was
soon reported as having retired at Sulby
whilst fellow leaderboard man Harrison
was also out, this time at Kirk Michael.
The race was far
from over though as Molyneux and
Farrance began to eat into the
Austro/Manx pairing’s lead and it was
down to 8.7 seconds at Ramsey. This then
became five seconds as they went over
the tramlines at the Bungalow for the
final time and the race was on to see
who could come down the Mountain the
quickest.
Starting at number
one, Molyneux was the first to take the
chequered flag and then the watch
started to see if Klaffenbock could hold
on. And he did – just! He crossed the
line with 2.63 seconds to spare to take
not only his first win but also his
first podium since he first entered the
races in 2004. It was, without doubt, a
hugely popular victory. Reeves and
Chauhan were comfortable in third with
Neary and Knapton in a solid fourth.
The retirements of
Holden and Harrison allowed Gary
Bryan/Gary Partridge and Tony
Elmer/Darren Marshall to be promoted
into the top six, the duo having fine
drives, with the top ten being completed
by Greg Lambert/Jason Slous, Bill
Currie/Robert Biggs, Dave
Kimberley/Robert Bell and Gordon Shand/Stuart
Graham.