An unsung Aussie’s adventure at the 2025 Isle of Man TT

Tales from TT 2025

Eric Lenser and Anais Rosset

While Josh Brookes and David Johnson flew the Australian flag towards the front of the solo races at this year’s Isle of Man TT, we also had another Aussie circulating slightly under the radar in the sidecar races. Eric Lenser and his French partner, Anais Rosset, made a steady but impressive debut at TT 25, coming away with a pair of finishers’ medals to show for their efforts.

The opening Sidecar bout saw them record a 23^rd-place finish in their very first TT race together. Five days later, that position improved to 19^th in the second race of TT week. It was a steady progression, which is precisely the way to tackle the TT. With 2025 marking the first stage of a long-term plan, it will be interesting to follow the couple’s progress in the future.

They certainly caught the eye in their ‘shark nose’ outfit, which proved to be popular with the local Manx kids. While I was talking to Eric, some young autograph hunters came up to the tent, gleefully exclaiming that the ‘racing shark’ was their favourite as Lenser picked them up and placed them on the R. Recchia-Motos DDM Suzuki for a photograph.

Eric left Australia 18 years ago and moved to France, where he and Anais are still based. Over the past two decades, Lenser has competed around Europe on a 250 GP bike, participating in events in the Czech Republic and at venues such as Oliver’s Mount in England. Perhaps most importantly, his CV includes four visits to the Manx GP (the amateur event held on the same Mountain course as the TT).

The Victorian admits that his Manx GP Solo experience was useful to a point this time around but was quick to point out that knowing what corner comes next is about as far as those benefits translate to the three-wheeling world. In reality, it was ‘like starting again.’

“I know where the track goes but everything else is different,” he explains. “The biggest difference is the visibility- we’re so much lower to the ground.”

The pair attended ‘newcomers’ weekends’ in the lead up to the TT, which they spent under the tutelage of 17 times winner, Dave Molyneux, who according to Eric was ‘fantastic’. Already having track knowledge meant he could concentrate on ‘what’ Dave was telling him to do, rather than ‘where’ to be.

Eric and Anais came with some modest but realistic goals, and they ticked all their boxes.

“(The goals were) to qualify, finish race 1 and finish race 2. I’ve ridden here several times on bikes and know that getting a finish here is really a battle. So, first year- getting a finish is a really good result and we got two finishes,” he grins.

The 2025 TT was a long time in the making for Lenser…

Before he left Australia in the 2000s, himself and two friends were racing solos on the Victorian scene. One of those mates got fairly injured in a crash and went on to buy a sidecar. Eric and the remaining member of the trio took it in turns to passenger the outfit, depending who was available on the day.

“There was three of us racing solos but one of my friends had a big crash and he couldn’t ride bikes anymore, so he said, ‘I’m gonna get a sidecar’. He bought a classic out-fit; a 750cc Honda… we hadn’t a clue what we were doing, but it was a lot of fun, it was shits and giggles.”

After Lenser had moved to France, his progression to side car driver took a number of years but he got there eventually.

“I had a friend who was an ex-sidecar racer and he said I’ve got another mate who’s looking for a driver for the TT. He said, ‘you know your way around, do you wanna have a go?’ And I’m like, yeah…ok! We went and had a practice and after about 2 laps, I was like… ‘nah this is not for me… not yet. I’m not ready at all.‘”

That was back in 2014 but from there he made some contacts in the paddock and ended up doing a few seasons as a passenger in the French classic sidecar championships.

This was a great learning experience and Eric really got to grips with how a sidecar works at that time. The driver was a chassis builder so this gave him great insight into the technical aspect; igniting his ‘engineering geek side’, which he found really interesting.

Eric was still racing solos around Europe at the time but his driver wanted someone fully focused on the sidecar scene and let Eric go, replacing him with Eric’s current partner and passenger; Anais…

“I got sacked!” laughs Eric. “But after a few years, Anais and myself started riding together and the rest is history.“

They got an entry for the 2020 TT but Covid put paid to that plan. Lenser then decided that it wasn’t the right moment anyway. “We thought if we’re taking this thing seriously then we’re gonna take a couple of years and build to it.“

They proceeded to take in as many road events as possible, racing at places such as Shleiz, Hengelo and the Southern 100 (a mass start race, also on the Isle of Man)

The pair found ‘the Southern’ was closest to the TT and the best prep for the Mountain course as the European races were ‘dinner plate smooth’ compared to there.

Finally arriving at the TT was ‘a dream come true’ and really it couldn’t have gone any better for the pair. Their aim was to come and experience the thrill of the event together as a couple. Qualifying and completing both races really meant all boxes were ticked.

So, what next for Eric and Anais? Is a return to the TT in 2026 on the cards?

“Next step we’ll see what happens. We would have liked a 100 mph lap and were really close. We’d like to come back next year, but it’s a big commitment. There’s a lot of time and a lot of money; a lot of everything.”

For now, a return to the Southern 100 in July is next up before closing out the season competing in the Northern Cup; a series with rounds In Belgum, Holland, Germany and France…

We hope to see the ‘racing shark’ back at TT 26 and wish them ‘Bonne Chance’ for the rest of the rest of the season.

2015 IOMTT Sidecar TT Race One Results

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