Molyneux breaks 20 minute barrier in Sidecar “B” TT – Martin fastest CBR600RR in Junior TT

Honda powered the record breaking Sidecar TT race ‘B’ winners Dave Molyneux and Daniel Sayle – easing their disappointment of the minor ignition problem what had cost them victory in Saturday’s opening race with a brilliant performance to take victory in todays Sidecar race.

Molyneux had set himself the target of breaking the 20 minute barrier, and that was done from a standing start, with an opening lap of 19m 44.38s, a record at 114.683s, but that lasted only until the end of the second lap with the Manx duo upping the power and going even faster.

The second lap was completed some 14 seconds faster, at an average speed of 116.044mph, and that charged them comfortably ahead of the rest, with after three fast laps a winning lead of 82 seconds over the first race winning duo of Nick Crowe and Darren Hope.

For Molyneux it was a record eleventh victory on the Island, but his main interest was official confirmation of his flying lap time. “That will do for me – Daniel Sayle is the best passenger I have ever had.”

There had been some anxiety at the end of the race as the leaders coasted over the line, but it was down to a loose chain, otherwise their winning time, already some two minutes inside the record, of 59m 06.39s would have been ever faster.

Crowe, also Honda powered, admitted there was nothing that he could do to catch Molyneux in a race that saw him finish 72 seconds up on Steve Norbury and Andy Smith.

Ryan Farquhar took the victory in the second Isle of Man TT Supersport 600 Junior race, finishing some 14 seconds clear of Jason Griffiths in a four lap event that brought the retirement of several of the pre-race favourites.

The Ulsterman took charge of the race, overtaking John McGuinness on the approach to Ramsey on the opening lap and then powered clear, covering the first 37.73 miles at an average speed of 122.457mph to be running four seconds clear of Honda’s Ian Lougher, the winner of Monday’s Supersport 600 race.

Shortly afterwards, Lougher had his hopes of taking an eighth victory on the Island dashed, with reports that he was touring through the Glen Helen section, and then retiring at Westwood with machine problems. By then, Richard Britton, Bruce Anstey and Adrian Archibald had all been forced out, also, by machine problems.

Farquhar however was maintaining the pace aboard his Kawasaki, and as he pitted for fuel at half distance he had extended his advantage to 16 seconds, with Griffiths now his nearest rival. The 25 year old, who won last year’s 600 Production TT, enjoyed a swift and effective pit-stop that gave him a bonus of a further nine seconds over his Yamaha rival.

Farquhar held the upper hand, though on the final lap, Griffiths upped the power and began to make inroads on the lead – he final circuit came at an average speed of 122.54mph, the fastest of the race, but it was too late to make any difference to the result.

“I knew he was catching, maybe I let him get away a bit, but that hardly matters now,” smiled Farquhar.

Griffiths admitted: “it was a really tough battle, but still a fantastic result for us,” while Raymond Porter, a winner in the recent NorthWest 200, made the TT podium for the first time aboard his Yamaha.

Guy Martin brought his Honda CBR600RR home in fourth place: “That is not good enough for me – I am sort of going in the right direction but wanted better than this.”

Fifth place went to Martin Finnegan, riding a Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR, with Jun Maeda, a Honda development rider, taking sixth – his best ever finish on the Island.

Results

Sidecar B Po / Name / Machine / Time / MPH 1 / Dave Molyneux / Daniel Sayle / 600 DMR HONDA / 59′ 06.39″ / 114.90 2 / Nick CROWE / Darren HOPE / 600 DMR HONDA / 1h 00′ 28.37″ / 112.31 3 / Steve NORBURY / Andrew SMITH / 600 SHELBOURNE / 1h 01′ 40.06″ / 110.13 4 / Simon Neary / Stuart Bond / 600 BAKER YAMAHA / 1h 02′ 19.43″ / 108.97 5 / Roy HANKS / David WELLS / 600 MOLYNEUX-ROS / 1h 02′ 38.10″ / 108.43 6 / Ben DIXON / Mark LAMBERT / 600 HONDA / 1h 02′ 53.00″ / 108.00 7 / John Holden / Jamie Winn / 600 HONDA / 1h 03′ 10.60″ / 107.50 8 / Tony Baker / Mark Hegerty / 600 BAKER YAMAHA / 1h 03′ 16.53″ / 107.33 9 / Roger Stockton / Peter Alton / 600 SHELBOURNE / 1h 03′ 51.34″ / 106.36 10 / Bill Currie / Kerry Williams / 600 WINDLE YAMAH / 1h 04′ 13.66″ / 105.74 11 / Conrad Harrison / Dan Toone / 600 DMR HONDA / 1h 05′ 12.27″ / 104.16 12 / Tony THIRKELL / Roy KING / 600 HONDA / 1h 05′ 12.46″ / 104.15 13 / Neil Kelly / Jason O’Connor / 600 IRESON HONDA / 1h 05′ 25.03″ / 103.82 14 / Mick Harvey / Fiona Baker-Milligan / 600 SHELBOURNE / 1h 05′ 34.59″ / 103.56 15 / Brian KELLY / Jamie SCARFFE / 600 DMR HONDA / 1h 05′ 36.36″ / 103.52

Supersport B Po / Name / Machine / Time / MPH 1 / RYAN FARQUHAR / 600 Kawasaki ZX6R / 1h 15′ 01.42″ / 120.70 2 / Jason Griffiths / 600 Yamaha R6 / 1h 15′ 15.72″ / 120.32 3 / Raymond Porter / 600 Yamaha R6 / 1h 15′ 30.53″ / 119.92 4 / GUY MARTIN / 600 Honda CBR / 1h 15′ 55.99″ / 119.25 5 / Martin Finnegan / 600 Honda CBR / 1h 16′ 01.00″ / 119.12 6 / Jun Maeda / 600 Honda CBR RR / 1h 16′ 26.66″ / 118.45 7 / Ian Hutchinson / 600 Honda CBR / 1h 16′ 28.89″ / 118.40 8 / Nigel BEATTIE / 600 Yamaha R6 / 1h 16′ 48.28″ / 117.90 9 / GARY CARSWELL / 600 Yamaha R6 / 1h 17′ 07.78″ / 117.40 10 / CHRIS PALMER / 600 Honda / 1h 17′ 10.52″ / 117.33 11 / Cameron Donald / 600 Honda CBR / 1h 17′ 26.39″ / 116.93 12 / Davy Morgan / 600 Yamaha R6 / 1h 17′ 33.35″ / 116.76 13 / Dean Silvester / 600 Yamaha R6 / 1h 18′ 11.94″ / 115.80 14 / Kevin Mawdsley / 600 Honda CBR / 1h 18′ 23.89″ / 115.50 15 / Paul Owen / 600 Honda CBR RR / 1h 18′ 35.44″ / 115.22