TT organisers to “preserve” the sidecar classes following crashes and suspension
The Isle of Man TT clerk of the course has spoken about the sidecar suspension and how the class will undergo a thorough review to preserve it for the future.
It’s been a tough week for the sidecars at the TT, with multiple crashes leading to the curtailment of three-wheeled racing for this year while a review is undertaken.
The announcement to suspend the class came following a crash for the event favourites, Ryan and Callum Crowe. Their crash occurred on Wednesday evening at Crosby, with the outfit lifting into the air over the Crosby Jump.
Fan footage from the location (shown above) appeared to show the outfit lifting up over the jump and flipping over. Both the Crowe brothers were reported to be conscious and speaking following the crash, and were transferred to Noble’s Hospital by ambulance.
Maria Costello MBE and Shaun Parker were the other sidecar outfit to be involved in a crash, with the pair coming off the track at Brandish during the second lap of the first qualifying session.
Following the cancellation of further sidecar participation in 2026, clerk of the course Gary Thompson spoke to TT+ about how event organisers will look to preserve the event for 2027 and beyond.
“We had an incident on Wednesday evening involving Callum and Ryan Crowe, which kind of mirrored a similar incident we had last year with Pete Founds and Jevan Walmsley out of Rhencullen,” he said.
“In both cases, the Sidecar lifted, which pointed towards the aero flow, the aerodynamics.
“Fortunately, it didn’t end up as bad as what it could have done, nobody was seriously injured.
“But in the interest in safety for competitors, for officials, marshals and the general public, we’ve decided to suspend Sidecar action at the TT for this year.
“Once the TT is finished, we will do a full review, both technically and operationally, with the Sidecar teams and with our technical staff just to see what we could do to preserve the class, make it more sustainable and more resilient for the future.”
“We just want to take stock. It’s not the place to second-guess, to take risks, so we just want to take stock, get everyone together, have a consultation process and do what we can to preserve the class.
“We all want to see Sidecars, we want to preserve the class and have a consultation process, discuss what can be done, and hopefully improve things for Sidecars going forward.”
It’s not clear at this time how event organisers will protect the future of sidecar racing at the TT. That said, with the Crowe brothers' crash mirroring the previous 2025 accident involving Founds and Walmsley, some steps to help reduce the risk of outfits lifting will likely be on the cards. Whether that risk is mitigated by putting restrictions on certain aerodynamic designs, or by reducing the speed of sidecars at high-risk parts of the track, remains to be seen.
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Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!
