ALL NEW SIDECAR SEEDING FOR TT 2025

With the first of the solo classes already revealed for the 2025 Isle of Man TT Races, today the top 10 drivers and passengers for the two 3wheeling.media Sidecar Races have been announced.

However, unlike the other classes and races, and in a change to previous years, there are no seeds in the sidecar class. Instead, the starting order will be determined by qualifying position.

The fastest driver/passenger combination during qualifying will start first followed by the second and third quickest and so.

That will almost certainly bring strategy and intrigue into play. With no one wanting to follow or lead the other for fear of revealing any course secrets to the opposition, qualifying week for the sidecar class will be intriguing to say the least.

Who will show their hand and top the timesheets to lead the field away? And who will ‘sandbag’ their way through each session, preferring to start the three-lap races slightly further down the order?

As it is, it’s last year’s double race winners who take the number one plate, Ryan and Callum Crowe. The Manx siblings dominated proceedings twelve months ago, also setting their maiden 120mph+ lap of the Mountain Course and the duo will be aiming for a repeat performance on the Opul Solutions/Kelproperties LCR Honda.

At number two, it’s seven-time podium finishers Pete Founds and Jevan Walmsley, again running the DDM Honda but this time under the AWB Engineering banner. Second in race one last year, they perhaps didn’t perform as well as they’d like so will be more fired up than ever to claim their maiden victory.

Number three is 14-time winner Ben Birchall on the Hager LCR Honda. Runner-up to the Crowes in the second encounter last time out, there’s further change for the current outright lap record holder with Patrick Rosney replacing the outgoing Kevin Rousseau in the chair as he looks to get back on top.

With Tim Reeves having been forced to withdraw recently, number four is now taken by Lee Crawford/Scott Hardie (Team ARC/SJH Bodyworks LCR Kawasaki). Sixth on debut in 2022 and fifth last year, the former British Champion will be firmly knocking on the door of the podium this time around.

With fourth and fifth last year, Lewis Blackstock has been rewarded with the number five plate but with regular passenger Rosney having moved on – the duo have contested the TT together since 2016 – he has a new passenger on board, 23-year-old newcomer Oscar Lawrence.

With TT stalwarts 17-time winner Dave Molyneux, John Holden and Conrad Harrison having retired and Alan Founds, like Reeves, missing this year, the top ten plate holders look a bit different in 2025 compared to recent years and last year’s best newcomers and 2022 and 2023 World Champions Todd Ellis/Emmanuelle Clement (Brookland Sand & Aggregates CES Yamaha) have been promoted up to number six.

Number seven is father and son duo and frequent top six finishers Steve and Matty Ramsden (Oliver’s Mount Racing LCR Honda) with numbers eight to ten taken by John Saunders/Vicky Cooke (Home Choice/Toutes Directions Ltd LCR Yamaha), Gary and Daryl Gibson (GDM Logistics & Fabrications LCR Suzuki) – the last named returning to passenger duties after two years as a driver – and big name newcomer Stephen Kershaw, the double British Champion and six-time Grand Prix winner Stephen Kershaw, the Scot partnered by Rhys Gibbons on the Express Tyres/Quattro Group LCR Honda.