Former World Sidecar Champion Klaus Klaffenbock and passenger Dan Sayle made it three TT Sidecar wins in a row when they took victory in the opening Sure Sidecar A race by ten seconds from John Holden and Andy Winkle. T
The Austrian/Manx pairing took the lead at Glen Helen on the opening lap and were never headed, catching Holden on the road and circulating together in high speed formation. Lapping at just under 115mph, the pairing were well clear of the rest of the field with Conrad Harrison and Mike Aylott overhauling Tim Reeves and Gregory Cluze on the final lap for third.
By the end of the first lap, Klaffenbock was leading both on time and on the road, his advantage at 11 seconds whilst Reeves was some 3.5 seconds ahead of Harrison. Having taken the lead on the road, former World Champion Klaffenbock could afford to sit with Holden for the rest of the race and on the second lap the duo treated to the fans to a high speed duel on the roads as they swapped positions on a number of occasions.
The lead was always around the 10 second mark for Klaffenbock and his second lap was 114.798mph although Holden was slightly quicker at 114.861mph, the gap now exactly ten seconds as they lapped nose to tail. Reeves was seemingly in control of third, his advantage over Harrison now six seconds.
Klaffenbock and Holden were secure in first and second with Reeves some 44 seconds back but he was now coming under serious pressure from Harrison, later attributed to a sticking throttle. At Ballaugh, the gap was down to 1.6s and by Ramsey, Harrison had seized control of the final podium spot, now some 3 seconds clear.
Klaffenbock and Holden crossed the line almost together to secure first and second whilst Harrison crossed the line in third for his second TT podium, and passenger Aylott’s first, with Reeves a despondent fourth. Elmer and Bryan were fifth and sixth throughout to again secure strong finishes whilst the Birchalls enjoyed a strong drive on their return in seventh.
