Harry Payne & Mark Wilkes - TT Newcomers

Harry Payne and Mark Wilkes – World Championship contenders and TT Newcomers for 2022. Who are they? What’s happening in a shed on the Isle of Man?

Contributor: Lucas Croydon

THE HISTORY

Harry Payne and Mark Wilkes have each made their name known in the sidecar paddock individually, before teaming up at end of 2020 to forge an enviable partnership.

After Mark won the world championship in 2019 with his former teammate ‘Tim Reeves’, He took up the opportunity of parenting multiple TT winner Dave Molyneux, however due to Covid restrictions this did not come to fruition. Harry however competed locally and picked up his first IOM Centre Championship in his debut year as a sidecar driver.

Harry and Mark first teamed up for the Sidecar BurnUp at Lydden in October 2020, and quickly established themselves as the “ones to watch”.

Over the winter of 2020 and during many nights in the garage a plan for 2021 was hatched and an assault on the British F2 championship was agreed. They did fantastic by finishing a tremendous 2nd overall in the series and actually winning the ‘cup’ catergory. They scored ‘cup class’ wins in every race they finished and this proved the pairing were set for great things. The solid season was backed up with 3 wildcards in the FIM World Championship on different machinery, the latter being a win in Estoril Portugal in October 2021 on a borrowed bike! These great achievements stood out particularly to one of their sponsors DAO Holdings (Sommai Nantakoon) who then decided to up her involvement considerably, forming the new team DAO1886 (pronounced Dow 18 86)... the new team is cool collaboration between DAO Racings Sommai Nantakoon, and her close friends James and Diane of 1886 Bar, Grill and Cocktail Lounge in Douglas. Harry and Mark, under this new banner, will be lead ambassadors for the official DAO Racing Team (formerly Silicone Racing; 2019 Senior TT winners with Dean Harrison). The new team operates from an Isle of Man workshop and is managed by Linda Alton-Heath well known for her work with Andreas Racing Association at Jurby and Klaus Klaffenbocks (Klaffi) event management company RP Events.

The new team will contest the 2022 FIM World Championship and 3wheeling.media sidecar races at the 2022 IOM TT.

THE TT

Mark has previously podiumed at the TT in 2017 with Tim Reeves (Klaffi / Carl Cox Honda); Harry whilst passengering for Michael Jackson was fastest newcomer in the 2018 TT, moving to Dave Molynuex in 2019 where he ended his passengering career after a quite disastrous TT . 2020 saw Harry move to the driving seat and he hasn’t looked back. This year Harry will make his driving debut at the TT and as a newcomer he has a steep learning curve ahead, however this will be aided by his 2 TT’s as a passenger no doubt. Harry understands the need to respect the course and will be taking a more relaxed approach to the event, with the aim of learning as much as possible.

Harry’s passion is racing and competing at the TT “I have been following the TT since a child, watching old tapes and DVDs with my father. When I stared in road racing only 7 years ago I knew I wanted to race on the iconic IOM TT course. The IOM TT is the premier event for road racing and I want to race against the best people on the best machinery on the best track in the world”.

Mark first raced at the TT in 2017 “I am really looking forward to racing at the TT again; teaming up with a driver like Harry with our new DAO1886 LCR outfit the overall package is strong and I am feeling confident of 2 strong results and an enjoyable TT in 2022.”

“I HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING THE TT SINCE A CHILD, WATCHING OLD TAPES AND DVDS WITH MY FATHER. WHEN I STARED IN ROAD RACING ONLY 7 YEARS AGO I KNEW I WANTED TO RACE ON THE ICONIC IOM TT COURSE.”

THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

In 2021, Payne and Wilkes received support from DAO while running as Team 45, but this year the team will run a full new livery as it tackles an entire season on the world scene, under the banner of DAO1886, as mentioned earlier. “We were so pleased with the incredible performance of Team 45 last year that we decided to up our involvement for 2022, which has led us to this exciting new venture,” explained Sommai Nantakoon, ““I am looking forward to this with all my heart. I am putting in 100% with my new team and I’m happy to share this experience with my best friends at 1886.”

Team manager Linda Alton-Heath is also looking forward to a new challenge. “I feel very honoured to have been asked to manage the new DAO1886 sidecar team,” she said, “We have some very exciting things in store for the year ahead and I can’t wait to get started. I have every faith in Harry and Mark and with Sommai’s passion and enthusiasm we are definitely a team with a vision”

Payne, meanwhile, admits he can’t wait to get going. “It’s fantastic to have the backing of an experienced and successful team and I’m honoured to be in this position, ““I believe this new partnership with DAO1886 will massively help us achieve our goals and I can’t wait to hit the ground running when the World Sidecar Championship kicks-off at Le Mans in April.”

Competing in the world championship will see the DAO1886 team travel through Europe, racing as support to both world superbikes and world endurance events. The new team have a busy 4 weeks ahead preparing both bikes for the season, which commences with a week of testing late March at the Val de Vienne circuit in France.