#callumcrowe

For once it was a cool morning on the island and high cloud was partially obscuring the sun. The bonus for competitors was that there no harsh shadows. This proved to be an emotional day; it was to be the last race for John Holden; a man with two wins and 13 other podium finishes in his illustrious career. It was also to be the last race for his one time partner in crime Andy Winkle; he has two wins, and 7 other podium finishes to his name. Sadly for Andy, his long standing shoulder injury proved too much; he and driver Conrad Harrison pulled out of the race less than halfway around the first lap. Peter Founds was in buoyant mood in the paddock after Race 1 and confident that he could raise his game and challenge the dominant Birchalls for the win. Ben and Tom were first away, and they set a blistering pace for the others to follow. They averaged over 120mph to Glen Helen and led by 2.9s from Founds / Walmsley. The Crowe brothers were in third; they were 4.25s down on Founds. They changed engines overnight and the new one did not have the top end that they were looking for. At Ballaugh; with half of the lap nearly complete the lead was to 3.22s. The Crowe brothers were now 5.5s behind; but they were pulling clear of John Holden / Maxime Vasseur; Dave Molyneux / Dan Sayle and Gary Bryan / Philip Hyde. At the timing point at White Gates; our vantage point for the morning; the action was excellent, despite the small number of outfits in the race. The Birchalls were first to reach us and were very fast; but did not use all of the track. The pairs remained in their starting order on the track; John Holden / Maxime Vasseur were on the tail of Tim Reeves / Mark Wilkes; having started 10s behind them. Gary Bryan / Philip Hyde were the most spectacular; aviating the sidecar wheel for some distance. The Birchalls' lead was 3.99s after 24 miles of racing. After an opening lap at 118.904mph the Birchalls led by only 4.51s; despite them being faster than in Race 1. The only change in the leader board saw Molyneux / Sayle drop to 6th. This was the indicator of problems and the KTM was ultimately parked at Sulby. Founds / Walmsley lapped at 118.437mph and the Crowe brothers at 116.837mph. Aware of how close the race was the Birchalls upped the pace. They set sector record times to Glen Helen and Ballaugh; where the lead was up to 10.36s. Holden and Vasseur stooped in Kirk Michael; had a discussion and carried on; but down in 8th. Maxime had been bounced around and had either broken a rib or dislocated rib cartilage; both extremely painful. At the end of the race; he went straight to the medical centre. At White Gates on lap 2 the Birchalls were really trying; they lifted the sidecar wheel as they put most of the platform over the pavement and took a tight line. Founds / Walmsley did likewise; whilst the Crowe brothers stayed completely on the tarmac. Reeves, Bryan and Greg Lambert / Andrew Haynes all used the wheel lifting routine, giving great viewing to the spectators. On 120mph+ pace the Birchalls set sector records to lead by 13s at the Bungalow. Reeves; the Ramsdens and Bryan completed the top 6. The Birchalls crossed the line and they had blitzed their own four days old lap record; raising it to 120.645mph; amazing for a 600cc engine pulling an outfit and two adults. Founds / Walmsley were only 7s slower; their speed was 119.887mph. The Crowe brothers put in their best lap of the meeting at 118.330mph; not bad when Ryan was being careful due to Callum’s injury from their bump in practice. The two leading crews were on 120mph pace as they reached Ballaugh for the final time; the lead was now 13.935s. At White Gates, the Birchalls did not raise the sidecar wheel so high as on lap 2 but they were flying. Founds / Walmsley took the tight line and were clearly pushing as hard as they dared. With the lead over 14s at the Bungalow, the Birchalls eased slightly. Founds took 3s back going to Cronk ny Mona and 2.8s more on the short run to the finish; aided by a sector record time. At the end of a great battle the Birchalls made it 11 straight wins; setting another new race record speed of 119.784mph; simply stunning. An amazing final lap of 120.079mph for Founds / Walmsley left them just 9.147s down at the finish. The Crowe brothers final lap of 118.298mph gave them a race average of 117.818mph and a richly deserved podium finish; just reward after a troubled meeting. Reeves / Wilkes took fourth; they lapped at over 115mph on the final lap. Steve and Matty Ramsden took fifth; the leader board was completed by Bryan / Hyde. John Holden and the heroic Maxime Vasseur finished seventh. John will be missed on track; but he will be here next year in some capacity; as will Andy Winkle. Alan Founds completed the race with late stand-in passenger Colin Smyth in 11th place. He then raised his game to another level, and live on air proposed to his partner Karla; did she say yes? Of course she did; who says romance is dead? What a delightful way to end the morning’s racing. Read the full article

The 2023 isle of man TT was blessed with perfect conditions for the opening practice sessions. In a departure from the long established norm, the sessions were run in the late morning and afternoon; meaning that the low evening sun was not a factor. The Gooseneck was warm and had attracted a decent number of spectators. The sweeping left hand bend below it was the chosen position for the first; untimed session. The inside of the rising right hand bend the position for the first timed sessions. The escorted laps for the newcomers was the first matter to be attended to. All completed their lap apart from Derek Lynch / Anthony McDonnell who had a mechanical issue. They completed the mandatory lap at the end of the timed sessions. The idea of the untimed first session was to ease pressure on the riders and allow them a way to ease into the event and take note of the changes made around the track; perhaps the most important being the resurfacing of part of Sulby Straight. Michael Dunlop was first on the road in the Supersport / Lightweight session and he was certainly not easing in; he was well clear of the pack and right on the pace as the swept through the left hander and then braked hard before the rising right hander. Most of the seeded riders chose to use their Supersport machines for the opening lap. Josh Brookes was out the Dafabet Kawasaki that was scheduled to be ridden by Gary Johnson; who is unable to ride after his accident at Horice. The Superbikes and Superstocks were next on track and again we had a well-attended session, and the riders were not exactly easing their way in; they were rapid, no doubt confident that the track was in good order. Conor Cummins had to retire at Ballacraine; whilst Paul Williams was brought off at Laurel Bank by a pheasant, he escaped injury. The Sidecars completed their untimed session with the Birchall brothers leading the pack; with Peter Founds / Jevan Walmsley and the Crowe brothers close behind. After a brief lunch interval, the serious action began with the timed sessions; run in the same order as the morning sessions.  The temperature at trackside had risen and that on the track was about to astound us. Dean Harrison was first to break the afternoon peace as he came into view on his Supersport and then took the corner in fine style before blasting away up the mountain climb. Michael Dunlop was on his Lightweight (Supertwin) machine and had the commentary team excited because he was on lap record pace. The action was fast and furious; one of the early arrivals was Davo Johnson; he has the number 1 plate; it was good to see him back after he missed last year with an injury. Another noted as going rapidly was multiple MGP winner James Hind. Local star Conor Cummins was just about the fastest around the corner; he was on his Supersport Milenco Padgett Honda. The commentary team was right to be excited; Michael Dunlop was on record pace; he went around at 122.907mph; his official mark from 2018 being 122.750mph; that was set in the race, on a well rubbered in track. This left him clear at the top of the speed charts from Jamie Coward (119.758mph) and Brian McCormack (118.971mph). Josh Brookes settled quickly on the unfamiliar twin to set a best of 116.470mph. One thing is clear, Peter Hickman’s Yamaha is going to have to be very special if he is to beat Michael in this class. Peter Hickman was for some time the fastest man in the Supersport class; his second lap of 126.604mph being his best. Dean Harrison recorded 125.494mph and Davey Todd 124.604mph. Having parked his Paton; Dunlop jumped aboard his Supersport Yamaha and scorched around the course to set the best lap of the session at 127.019mph. The big bikes were out next and what a spectacle they provided; the speeds simply amazing for the first session. Phil Crowe was first to reach us and going very quickly. Next was Dean Harrison on the DAO Kawasaki Superbike; he was on 130mph pace; a few places behind; Michael Dunlop was at an almost identical pace on his Superstock MD Honda. It seemed that everyone was achieving the kind of pace not normally seen until the (what was traditional until now) Thursday afternoon session. Dean Harrison had the honour of recording the first 130mph lap at this year’s meeting; his speed was 130.752mph. Seconds later, Michael Dunlop brought his Superstock into the paddock after his table topping lap at 130.426mph. John McGuinness sounds very comfortable with his bikes and eased his way in with a lap at 127.881mph. Josh Brookes has settled straight back into the TT and he set a lap of 125.742mph on his Superbike; later he set 126.404mph on his Superstock machine. Peter Hickman was one of the later starters but that did not prevent him from taking second place in the Superbike chart with his lap of 130.272mph on his FHO BMW. Michael Dunlop switched to his Superbike and unsurprisingly lapped at over 130mph. Dean Harrison then raised the bar to 131.764mph; with Hickman posting 131.254mph. Dunlop was not to be outdone; he put the Hawk Fireblade around at 131.782mph. He was very neat at the Gooseneck and the bike was an absolute missile going up the climb towards Guthrie’s. Michael has put down a marker that he is fit; strong; has a settled team; great bikes and is ready to increase his tally of wins. There were some good speeds from the newcomers; the best being Erno Kostamo at 115.468mph; Matthieu Lagrive and Ryan Cringle both topped 111mph. The sidecars were impressive; one or two were a tad over enthusiastic; but great to watch as always. There are some interesting fairing designs; perhaps they will allow the 120mph barrier to be broken. The slight surprise was that Ben and Tom Birchall did not top the chart. Fastest were Pete Founds / Jevan Walmsley at 117.431mph; with Ben and Tom recording 117.153mph. Daryl Gibson was Dave Molyneux’s passenger last year; he clearly knows how to drive the outfit; he set a lap of 107.497mph with Tom Christie in the chair. We can now draw breath and wait for tomorrow evening’s session which fires up at 6.30pm. Read the full article