HOLDEN FOLLOWING FATHER IN TT DEBUT
Words by PHIL WAIN and images courtesy of IOMTTRaces
George Holden, son of two-time race winner John Holden, will make his Sidecar debut at this year’s Isle of Man TT races.
The Clitheroe driver will be joined by Mark Wilkes for the two three-lap 3wheeling.Media Sidecar TT races. They will be campaigning the Barnes Racing DMR Yamaha outfit, which was built by record 17-time winner Dave Molyneux.
With dad John, who finished on the podium on an impressive 22 occasions, a tally second only to Molyneux, having finally called time on his TT career. George’s experience is now at a high level having cut his teeth superbly on the short circuits. Thus, the path has been cleared for the 32-year-old to make his Mountain Course bow.
Competing with Oscar Lawrence – who’ll also make his TT debut in 2025 along driver Lewis Blackstock. The duo first contested a full season in the British Championship in 2021. They finished 13th overall with a best finish of sixth. However, they proved how quick they were learning, and improving, with fourth overall the outcome the following year. They took seven podiums during the season.
Further improvement came in 2023 when they finished third overall, behind Todd Ellis/Emmanuelle Clement and Blackstock/Patrick Rosney. They took another six podiums, achieving the same result last year. Two podiums were taken in 2024 as they finished in the top six on no less than ten occasions.
But having spent four full seasons in the British Championship, Holden is now turning his attentions to the TT where he’ll be joined by Wilkes. The highly experienced Kent passenger had finished on the podium twice in 2017. He had been due to contest this year’s TT with regular driver Tim Reeves. However, when Reeves was forced to pull out, Holden quickly enlisted Wilkes’ services.
George Holden:
“With Dad racing for so long, I’ve obviously grown up with the TT so competing has been on my mind for a long time. Now the time’s right to turn that dream into a reality. I’ve been building my experience up on the short circuits but, to be honest, it was only in 2023 when everything started to come together for making my TT debut.”
“I obviously know which way the course goes but since 2023 I’ve turned my attentions to approaching it as a driver. Racing around the Mountain Course is a whole different ball game to going round in a car at 30mph! I’ve been watching onboard laps all the time and going over to the island as much as possible. It’s simply a case of trying to soak it all in. I’ve got Dad helping me and Dave Molyneux has been superb with his coaching.”
“The F2 outfit is very different from the long wheelbase outfit as it requires a different style, never mind the fact there’s not as much room. However, I had a few outings last year on the DMR Yamaha and have a few more lined up between now and the TT. When Mark became available, we soon got everything arranged. It’s great to have a passenger on board of such high calibre and with so much experience. That can only be of benefit.”
“Ian Barnes has been terrific with his support and I’m not putting a label on lap times or positions. I just want to enjoy it and soak it all up, building on what I’ve learnt the previous night. I’m looking forward to it more than anything else.”