Ian Bell: Former sidecar winner to make TT return after decade

Ian and son Carl are multiple Southern 100 winners

Former TT winner Ian Bell will make a sensational return to the Isle of Man event in 2014, 10 years after his last outing on the Mountain Course.

The Englishman claimed TT victory alongside passenger Neil Carpenter in 2003 but retired from the sport after a high speed crash the following year.

He returned in 2007 with son Carl in the chair.

The father-and-son duo will compete in both sidecar races at the 2014 meeting with Yamaha machinery.

Ian Bell said: "I've been giving a TT comeback some consideration for quite some time and now it feels right with my son Carl having gained enough experience in the passenger's seat for us to go and do a decent job there.

"We'll go with no expectations other than to have fun and to see how we get on."

The former Southern 100 solo champion made the switch to three wheels in the mid-1990s.

Although it is 11 years since he last contested the TT, Bell's best lap of 110.81mph still makes him the 16th fastest driver of all time.

Since returning to the sport in 2007, Ian and Carl have been regular front runners in the British F2 Championship, taking the title in 2012, as well as becoming the Southern 100 champions in 2009.