‘We’ll be aiming for two more wins at the TT this year, and perhaps sneak a lap record,’ hinted Callum Crowe after picking up the team trophy with his brother Ryan at the Isle of Man Sports Awards last week.

Hot foot from a few days testing at the Almería track in the Andalucia area of Spain, the siblings from Jurby said they were honoured to pick up the award which was coincidentally sponsored by Crowe, the local firm of chartered accountants and business advisers.

Other teams in the shortlist were the Isle of Man senior athletics team, IoM Special Olympics bocce team, IoM lawn bowls team, the senior men’s cricket team and snooker players Darryl Hill and Dollin Mercer who finished in the top-12 of the European Billiards and Snooker Association’s men’s team championships in Portugal last October.

Ryan Crowe said it was a long-time ambition to win a TT, but to win it with his brother beside him was a dream come true.

‘I remember going through Parliament Square in Ramsey on the final lap of both races with our family and friends there shouting us on. It was the same at Creg-ny-Baa which was rammed with spectators. The TT is the pinnacle of motorcycle sport, particularly for sidecar racers.’

Having emulated the achievements of their father a couple of decades before them, Callum said they were big shoes to fill. ‘We spent long hours in the workshop making sure we had a good machine, and we will be doing the same this year. It’s all about preparation.’

The Crowe brothers are set to go head-to-head again with 14-time winner Ben Birchall and Frenchman Kevin Rousseau, the latter having also partnered former Isle of Man resident Garry Payne to the world championship title.

They will be similarly matched on a pair of 600cc Honda-powered LCRs. The two will meet up again in the Southern 100 a month later when Birchall and Rousseau will start as defending champions having won both races last July in what was Birchall’s return to Billown after a gap of seven years.

Rousseau will be defending his world title with Payne, while the Crowe brothers are also aiming for a full assault on the British championship using a long-wheel-base outfit powered by a Triumph 675cc three-cylinder motor. They tested both the 600cc Honda-4 in the shorter F2 chassis they will use on the roads and the long bike for the short circuits in Spain last week.

Last year, in addition to winning both Sidecar TT races, the Crowe brothers also joined the elite group of only three crews to have lapped the Snaefell Mountain Course at an average speed in excess of 120mph.

Receiving huge applause from the appreciative audience assembled in the Villa Marina’s Royal Hall for last Thursday evening’s Mezzo-sponsored awards ceremony, they were later congratulated on stage by Sir Mark Cavendish MBE during his acceptance speech as Sportsman of the Year.

Cav’s close friend, former leading MotoGP rider and local resident Cal Crutchlow, quipped when he gave a jovial testimonial on screen from his new home in Dubai that he and the 35-time Tour de France stage winner would or could be making their TT debut on a sidecar with him at the controls and Cav in the chair!