Klaffenbock and Sayle take sidecar win

From the Isle of Man TT

Klaus Klaffenbock and Daniel Sayle took their second victory of the week in yet another nail biting finish at the 2010 Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy when they won the second Sure Sidecar race on Thursday afternoon by just 1.12 secs. The duo overturned a 10-second deficit going into the final lap to overhaul long time race leaders John Holden/Andy Winkle on the final run over the Mountain while Conrad Harrison and Kerry Williams finished in third place for their first ever TT podium.

Simon Neary and Paul Knapton set off quickest and they led through Glen Helen on the opening lap, albeit by just 0.25 secs. from Dave Molyneux and Patrick Farrance. Holden and Klaffenbock were holding on to third and fourth ahead of Harrison and Gary Bryan but there was further drama just a few moments later when 14-time champion Molyneux retired at Crony y Voddy, less than two miles further up the road from Glen Helen.

That was of little concern to Neary though and at Ramsey his lead was now over 10 seconds having caught, and passed, Holden on the road. Klaffenbock was up to third with Harrison. However, Neary failed to make it past the Bungalow, handing the lead to Holden. The Leeds driver, competing this year for five-times winner Nick Crowe, had retired at Casey’s, just after the Mountain Box.

At the end of the first lap, Holden led by 8.89 secs. from Klaffenbock, who was over 23 seconds clear of Harrison, Bryan and Greg Lambert. On the second lap, Holden again lapped quicker than Klaffenbock with 113.569mph, and had extended his lead to 10.15 secs.

It was on the third and final lap that Klaffenbock really flew and slowly but surely began to eat his way into Holden’s lead. It was down to 8.75 secs. at Glen Helen, less than five at Ramsey and less than three at the Bungalow. As the crews swept through Cronk ny Mona for the final lap, just a couple of miles from home, Klaffi led for the very first time by just a quarter of a second and when Holden crossed the line first, the countdown began. And, with the fastest lap of the race, 114.157mph, Klaffenbock had done it and made it a double for the week by just 1.12 secs.

For Holden, it was the bridesmaid position once more, his seventh TT podium in total, while Harrison and Williams were delighted to record their best ever TT position. Likewise, Bryan in fourth notched up a personal best just ahead of Lambert and 19-year old local passenger Jason Slous.