History was made in this thrilling second Sidecar Race of the 2018 Isle of Man TT races, which saw the first ever sidecar crew lap the Mountain Course in under 19 minutes.
As with the first sidecar race of 2018, this became a race of three pairs – Ben and Tom Birchall, who had won the earlier race, John Holden/Lee Cain, and Tim Reeves/Mark Wilkes.
Holden and Cain kicked off the race in first, but their advantage over the Birchalls was minimal, with Reeves and Wilkes less than a second adrift in third.
By lap two, the Birchalls had a quicker run, seizing the initiative to claw back first. Meanwhile, history had been made further back as Estelle Leblond became the first female driver to go above 110mph, alongside her partner Melanie Farnier.
As the race continued, the Birchall brothers pressed on at the head of the field, setting a new lap record of 119.250mph in the process. Holden/Cain and Reeves/Wilkes weren’t willing to give up without a fight though, with both crews going at a blistering pace and lapping at 117mph+.
The race went right down to the wire, with the winning duo taking home their fifth TT win in a row – their eighth in total.
Up Next in 2018
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2018 Supersport TT Race 2
As he had done for most of the 2018 TT Races, Dean Harrison took the lead from the start, in another record-breaking race. He was up against strong competition though, with the likes of Michael Dunlop, Peter Hickman, and James Hillier in strong contention to take the second Monster Energy Supersp...
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2018 Supersport TT Race 1
Michael Dunlop, who already had a race win under his belt that week, was locked in a two-way battle with Dean Harrison in this high-adrenaline Monster Energy Supersport Race at the 2018 Isle of Man TT.
Dunlop’s second lap of 129.197mph shattered his own lap record from 2013 and propelled him int...
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2018 Senior TT
Friday 8th June 2018 saw one of the greatest races in the Isle of Man TT’s history, when Peter Hickman and Dean Harrison battled it out for the historic trophy during a sensational Senior TT Race.
Lap, race, and sector records were all obliterated at this spectacular finale, where the pair playe...