The TT Starts on Monday

[Jeff Higgins]

"The only race that matters."

I just signed up through their website for the full coverage package. Best $33 I spent today. Watch anytime, anywhere, any device for up to a full year. Pretty hard to beat.

https://ttplus.iomttraces.com/products/2026-live-pass

[Jeff Higgins]

Well, it looks like after a couple of rather serious wrecks, sidecar has been cancelled for this year's TT. Even the Crowe brothers wrecked, one of the heavy favorites to win.

They came in this year with some serious concerns as it was. They introduced an intake restrictor plate to reduce top end power and, hopefully, speeds. While top speeds were certainly reduced, corner speeds were as high as ever, of course. These things may actually be too fast now, for open road racing, and may be restricted to circuit racing in the future. We'll see.

[Jeff Higgins]

And some really terrible news...

RIP Dan Ingham, who lost his life in the third qualifying session today. 33 years old, leaves behind a wife and two small children.

The TT can be very cruel sometimes.

[Rot 911]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

The TT can be very cruel sometimes.

And that’s what makes it such a fascinating race to watch. I don’t mean watching someone die, but that it takes the best of the best to complete the race. It challenges the racer every mile.

[dlockhart]

[Jeff Higgins]

Yeah, cancelling sidecar altogether is huge. Unprecedented. Some of these teams only race one race every year - the TT. They all build their own "rig", none of them make a living at this, and they all have a significant amount of time and money invested. Beyond that is just a love of the TT, no one is in it for the money - there isn't any. These people live for the TT.

Tom Birchall is one of the announcers this year. With his brother Ben, they dominated sidecar for years (they won the year my son and I were there). Ben still races, with a new partner, and is there this year. I'll be watching the daily roundup this evening. I'm eager to hear what Tom has to say.

[Jeff Higgins]

Hmm... No daily roundup today. Qualifying coverage stopped when sidecar got red flagged. They signed off still not knowing why. Tom Birchall was absent when they signed off, not good. Of course we know what happened now, but it appears that things were pretty shaken up by the time the coverage stopped.

Tomorrow is a rest day, so they should have plenty of time to get into what happened today. Not a great day at the TT. I hope tomorrow is better.

[LakeCleElum]

Thanks for the tip on how to watch Jeff...I'm gonna do it. Think I read where 2 killed even before the racing has started?

[gsxrken]

Are the sidecars any different this year or are the marshals different?
It’s one of the last things on earth it seems where you were “allowed” to do something most people thought were nuts… and now the ratchet is clicking on this too. And the safety-crats’ ratchet doesn’t ever go backwards.

[Jeff Higgins]

As far as I know, only one fatality so far, Dan Ingham. Some serious injuries, though, with a couple of sidecar crashes and a couple of solo crashes.

The sidecar thing is rather complicated. This has been building for years. They have essentially gotten too fast for their current level of engineering and aero sophistication which is, actually, surprisingly low.

These sidecar "rigs" are, for the most part, entirely home made by their respective teams. They build what looks and feels right, drawing on the experiences of others and their own best guesses. There is no real engineering analysis performed nor, most importantly, aero analysis or testing. They have no access to the engineering expertise nor the aero expertise they need to ensure structural suitability for the loads being applied through their chassis, nor the aerodynamic viability of these machines at speed.

Remember when Unlimited Hydroplanes use to kite up and flip over backwards many years ago? As speeds went up, their understanding of the aerodynamic forces at play did not. That is exactly the point in development the sidecars have reached today. Every major wreck has been because the rig "kited" up in the air.

They understand that they need to get a handle on why and, more importantly, what to do about it. It makes no sense to keep racing, knowing it will continue to happen. So they are taking a step back. They will likely wind up seeking some form of "adult supervision" - sidecar teams pooling resources to bring in some aero expertise to the benefit of all. Analyze the problem, explore solutions, and develop some design standards that they can all follow. Until then, they just won't be racing sidecars. There is an inherent problem with them that they can no longer ignore.

[herr_oberst]

I know they're built in sheds by enthusiastic amateurs, but CFD and windflow analytic programs are available to the masses along with ever more affordable handheld scanners and there are plenty of bright people who know how to use them.
I can only imagine that somewhere, someone will sort out the aero on the sidecars.....

[gsxrken]

Good account of what it’s actually like inside the helmet:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYwYCDBha38/?igsh=MWZoaGYyOTYxYTRyMA==

[Jeff Higgins]

Well, here it is, what happened to the Crowe brothers. Just out of nowhere, like Mark Webber at Le Mans in the Mercedes, like many Unlimited Hydroplanes in years past.

[dlockhart]

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by gsxrken

Good account of what it’s actually like inside the helmet:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYwYCDBha38/?igsh=MWZoaGYyOTYxYTRyMA==

Very interesting. I've heard many times to slow down to go fast.

[dlockhart]

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Very interesting. I've heard many times to slow down to go fast.

Yup...slow is smooth...smooth is fast.

[herr_oberst]

RC called these riders 'nuts'. (He's probably right, Vale said the same thing...)
If the riders are crazy, what does that make the idiot who sat down to watch in front of the padded sign?

[Jeff Higgins]

Like many things in life, no video can do it justice. This should be a "must do", or "bucket list" event for any motorsports fan.

My son and I at the Creg Ny Baa: