George Holden will be following in the wheel tracks of his father John 37 years earlier when he sets off racing down Bray Hill for the first time on Monday.

Winner of two TTs, John has chalked up an amazing 22 podium finishes in the event between 1988 and 2024, including an astonishing 13 in a row from 2014 and 2023.

George attended his first TT in 1994 as a one-year-old and hasn’t missed many since.

He will be joined by the highly experienced passenger Mark Wilkes for the two three-lap 3wheeling.Media Sidecar TT races, campaigning a Barnes Racing-supported DMR Yamaha outfit, built by record 17-time winner Dave Molyneux.

George’s cut his teeth on the UK short circuits, competing in the British Sidecar Championship with Oscar Lawrence – who’ll also make his TT debut next week alongside Lewis Blackstock.

The pair finished 13th overall in their debut year in the British championships, improving to fourth overall the following year when they took seven podiums. Further improvement came in 2023 when they finished third overall, behind Todd Ellis/Emmanuelle Clement and Blackstock/Patrick Rosney.

Wilkes, who finished on the podium twice in 2017, had been due to contest this year’s TT with regular driver Tim Reeves, but when the latter pulled out Holden quickly enlisted his services.

'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 and now the time’s right to turn that dream into a reality,’ said George, who made numerous visits to the island over the winter to learn the course more seriously.

‘I obviously knew the course, but since 2023 I’ve turned my attentions to approaching it as a driver as racing round 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 so 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.

‘When Mark became available, we soon got everything arranged and it’s great to have a passenger on board of such high calibre and with so much experience. That can only be of benefit.’

John Holden, now aged 68, is back to full fitness. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer last autumn and underwent a successful operation in October.

Born and raised in Clitheroe, he lives in Blackburn and has not quite given up on a possible TT return in the future. ‘It’s in the blood, you never know’ he smiled.