Dave Molyneux

Dave Molyneux (born 21 November 1963 in Douglas, Isle of Man) is a Manx professional Sidecar racer. He is the most successful Sidecar competitor in the history of the Isle of Man TT races, achieving 17 TT victories and 30 podium finishes. His race wins place him fourth on the all-time wins list, behind solo bike racers Joey Dunlop (26 wins), Michael Dunlop (25 wins) and John McGuinness (23).

For the British parasitologist, see David Molyneux

Dave Molyneux
Molyneux and passenger Patrick Farrance at Parliament Square during 2012 TT races
NationalityManx
Born (1963-11-21) 21 November 1963
Douglas, Isle of Man
Motorcycle racing career statistics
Isle of Man TT career
TTs contested27 (1985 – 2000, 2002 – 2010, 2012 – present)
TT wins17
First TT win1989 Sidecar TT A race
Last TT win2014 Sidecar TT B race
TT podiums27
Dave Molyneux through Bray Hill in 1989
Sidecar crew Walters & Masterman in 2002 aboard a Trevor Ireson chassis at the right-hander named as Molyneux's from 2013, with the Cronk-y-Voddy Straight visible stretching into the distance

Moly, as he is often known, was the sidecar lap record holder for the Snaefell mountain course set in 2015 with a time of 19 minutes 23.056 seconds, an average race speed of 116.785 mph for 1 lap.[1]

In 2013, a right-hand bend on the Snaefell Mountain Course used for TT and Manx Grand Prix races at the end of Cronk-y-Voddy Straight on the main A3 road was named Molyneux's in recognition of his wins, together with John McGuinness who was similarly honoured.[2]

Raceology

Beginning his TT career at the 1985 races,[3] Molyneux failed to record a finish until his fifth outing in the first race at the 1987 'A' race where he placed tenth, but failed to finish in his sixth event, the 'B' race (the event is raced over two legs with the overall winner performing the best in terms of aggregate).[3] Improvement continued 1988 with a sixth-place finish in the first leg of the Sidecar TT before retirement in the second race.[3]

The 1989 meeting saw Molyneux begin to dominate the event with his maiden TT victory. Campaigning a Bregazzi Yamaha and partnered by experienced passenger Colin Hardman, the team took first place in the 'A' and third in the 'B' race.[3] This resulted in Molyneux and Hardman claiming overall victory for the 1989 Sidecar TT.[3]

Dave Molyneux and Craig Hallam crashed during Thursday afternoon practice session for the 2006 races at Rhencullen after the sidecar outfit experienced a 140 mph Donald Campbell "bluebird-style flip."[4] The outfit was destroyed in the resulting fire and Molyneux was unable to compete in the actual races due to injury. He made a comeback the following year taking a double victory, bringing his tally of wins to 13 at that time.

His 14th victory came in 2009, when he also became the first winner of a TT sidecar race on a Suzuki powered machine. The lone race of 2009 saw him set a new race record on his Suzuki, (see above).

Moly did not compete at the TT in 2011 (although he rode the ex-Biland / O'Dell Seymaz Yamaha in the classic parade, with former TT passenger Karl Ellison), but he returned to the TT in 2012 on a Kawasaki powered machine winning both races. The first 2012 Sidecar race also made Molyneux the first ever competitor to win TTs using all four of the major Japanese manufacturers engines (Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki & Kawasaki).

2014 saw him take his 17th TT win in the second sidecar race. He led the first race by more than 20 seconds until an engine misfire caused him to stop on the final lap.

He is also a builder of road racing sidecars under the name DMR, Dave Molyneux Racing, and has supplied sidecars to many other TT winners including 10-time winner Rob Fisher, 2006 double winner Nick Crowe and 6x FIM World Champion Tim Reeves.

Filmography

In 2017, Molyneux received top billing for his role in the film 3 Wheeling,[5] an observational documentary filmed during TT period of 2016. The film premiered on 7 May 2017,[6] followed by a limited theatrical release of 150 commercial screenings in cinemas in Northern Ireland,[7] Germany,[8] and the Isle of Man.[9] Molyneux has not watched the film because he considers his racing efforts during the filming period to be "an absolute disaster",[10][11] but praised the filmmakers for their hard work and ambitious promotion of Sidecar racing.[12]

In 1994, Molyneux choreographed and performed the motorcycle stuntwork for Matthew Barney's film Cremaster 4, the first film in the acclaimed Cremaster series.[13]

Racing statistics

TT Race Victories
YearRace & CapacityMotorcycleAverage Speed
1989TT Sidecar Race 'A'Bregazzi TZ750 Yamaha104.56 mph
1993TT Sidecar Race 'A'600cc Yamaha103.33 mph
1993TT Sidecar Race 'B'600cc Yamaha103.16 mph
1996TT Sidecar Race 'A'DMR109.81 mph
1996TT Sidecar Race 'B'DMR110.28 mph
1998TT Sidecar Race 'B'600cc DMR Honda106.52 mph
1999TT Sidecar Race 'B'600cc DMR Honda111.90 mph
2003TT Sidecar Race 'B'600cc DMR Honda105.42 mph
2004TT Sidecar Race 'A'600cc DMR Honda111.33 mph
2004TT Sidecar Race 'B'600cc DMR Honda111.2 mph
2005TT Sidecar Race 'B'600cc DMR Honda114.901 mph
2007TT Sidecar Race 'A'600cc DMR Honda111.668 mph
2007TT Sidecar Race 'B'600cc DMR Honda113.851 mph
2009TT Sidecar Race 'A'600cc DMR Suzuki115.132 mph
2012TT Sidecar Race 'A'600cc DMR Kawasaki113.055 mph
2012TT Sidecar Race 'B'600cc DMR Kawasaki113.071 mph
2014TT Sidecar Race 'B'600cc DMR Kawasaki113.756 mph

TT career summary
Finishing Position1st2nd3rd4th6th10thDNF
Number of times178532121

Sources
  1. http://www.iomtt.com/~/media/Files/2015/Race-results/Sure-Sidecar-Race-2/Sure%20Sidecar%202%20Result%20landscape.pdf
  2. Manx Radio 10 April 2013 Retrieved 4 July 2015
  3. http://www.iomtt.com/TT-Database/competitors.aspx?ride_id=3753
  4. TT News 2006 – Edition 1 Isle of Man Newspapers
  5. "3 Wheeling (2017) - IMDb". IMDb.
  6. "3 Wheeling premier praised by VIP guests".
  7. "3 Wheeling - Movie House Cinemas".
  8. "Private video on Vimeo".
  9. "Ticketsolve - villagaiety". Villagaiety.
  10. TT2017: Dave Molyneux. Isle of Man TV. 6 June 2017. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2021 – via YouTube.
  11. Dave Molyneux talks TT at Motorcycle Live 2016. racingline. 29 November 2016. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2021 – via YouTube.
  12. Official Isle of Man TT 2017 Press Launch - fuelled by Monster Energy. Isle of Man TT - iomtt. 23 March 2017. Archived from the original on 23 March 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2021 – via YouTube.
  13. "- YouTube". YouTube.
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