IOM 2000 - SideCar 'A' TT

Rob Fisher and Rick Long took their Baker Honda 600 outfit to an impressive victory in today’s Sidecar ‘A’ race at the Isle of Man TT. The pre-race favourites won by more than a minute from Honda-powered Gary Horspole and Kevin Leigh, with Stephen Norbury and Andy Smith finishing third in their Shelbourne Yamaha.

First away from the line for the three-lap race around the 37.73-mile Isle of Man TT course, Fisher had opened up a lead of almost 30 seconds over Horspole by the end of lap one.

The Cumbrian driver lapped in a time of 20 min 26.8 sec (110.71mph) on lap two – the second fastest Sidecar Formula 2 lap ever – extending his advantage to fifty seconds. It was Fisher’s sixth TT win and his second successive victory after he and passenger Long won last year’s ‘B’ race.

Fisher, who finished second to Dave Molyneux in last year’s ‘A’ race, commented: "It was getting a bit damp in patches on the mountain on that last lap and I had to pass a few back markers which made it interesting."

The former British Open Sidecar champion continued: "It was a pretty lonely race until that point but everything went perfect. I didn’t expect it to be so easy really. The engine just got nice and loose as the race went on and was stronger than ever at the finish."

Sidecar ‘A’ race (three laps – 113.19 miles):
1 Rob Fisher/Rick Long (Honda) 1 hour 01 minutes 46.3 seconds – 109.95mph,
2 Gary Horspole/Kevin Leigh (Honda) 1h 02m 53.6s – 107.98mph,
3 Stephen Norbury/Andy Smith (Yamaha) 1h 03m 32.8s – 106.87mph,
4 Roy Hanks/Dave Wells (Yamaha) 1h 03m 56s – 106.22mph,
5 Ben Dixon/Mark Lambert (Yamaha) 1h 04m 00.6s – 106.09mph,
6 Tony Baker/Scott Parnell (Yamaha) 1h 05m 13.9s – 104.11mph,
7 Mike Cookson/Chris Hibberd (Honda) 1h 05m 22.2s – 103.89,
8 Philip Dongworth/John Luebke (Kawasaki) 1h 06m 43.5s – 101.78,
9 Chris Founds/Pete Founds (Yamaha) 1h 06m 53.8s – 101.52mph,
10 Andy Laidlow/Darren Dodgson (Yamaha) 1h 07m 08.3s – 101.15mph.

Fastest lap: Rob Fisher/Rick Long – 20m 26.8s, 110.71mph