The old saying goes that “Racing is a team sport” and while that maxim is true on many levels, the driver is ultimately the person who decides the fate of the equipment in most motorsport. Of course, that’s mostly true in formula and stock cars, but the “team sport” aspect of racing couldn’t possibly be more evident than in British F1 Sidecars, where two-person teams race wheel-to-wheel and helmet-to-helmet on British sidecars. If you thought it was nuts for, say, MotoGP riders to sit atop a ridiculous 200 mph rocket, it’s surely even crazier to watch the sidecar “riders” throwing their weight into corner apexes, often attached to the bike solely by their hands’ grip against the substantial lateral G’s.
We’ve seen a lot of crazy stuff, but the stones these two-person crews display is completely unreal. It’s an incredible act of coordination between pilot and rider that we can’t even begin to fathom as outsiders. The gymnastics routine of the sidecar riders is tremendous while they try to move the entire bike’s center of gravity as low and inside as possible, occasionally staring right down the barrel of the bike’s the flame-spewing side-exit exhaust as they lean over the right side. Not only is that part of the high-speed ballet remarkable on its own merit, these pairs are also racing against a dozen or two other similar machines, meaning that a line of sidecars headed into a corner turns into a weird ballistic-looking ballet.
With most fringe-type motorsports like this, there probably isn’t a lot of money in it for most competitors and it’s really a treat to watch riders at the peak of physical ability throwing themselves around the bikes for what is, probably mercifully, a short sprint race around the swooping and diving Brands Hatch Circuit in Kent.
It’s great to see you noticing sidecars! There is a small but quite active sidecar racing scene here in North America, it’s probably the best kept secret in racing. I first climbed on the back of one in 2002 and was immediately hooked, After that I partnered with a friend and started driving a 600cc F2 rig. It’s taken us from Mosport to Infineon with a regular round at Road America with the AMA (remember them?) It’s the best addiction going. The past few years have been on and off as time and money allows racing with my daughter as passenger. If you’re into road racing you should check out the schedules for the Sidecar Racers Association and SRA west.
That is badass. I’ll add that to the bucket list to check out in person. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like anyone does any super close to me. Summit Point and Shannonville are the closest rounds to me this year and they’ve both ~10 hours. Bummer.
Still cool to hear from you and you make it a family activity with your daughter. That’s awesome.
Eric, if you find yourself able to catch our round at Shannonville I’d be happy to set things up so you can go for a couple of “easy” laps on our rig, maybe even a couple of others if you like it! Shanny is our home track, only 3hrs away. If you like Fast, this is Fast distilled pure, no roll cages, no seat belts or harness. It’s like speed served up pure, and for certain people it’s very addictive, the others usually walk away shaking their heads. Cheers.
WOW — what a nice offer to make to an interested fan of your type of motorsports. I’m sure there aren’t many racers that would extend an opportunity like that.
My favorite race of the weekend at Laguna Seca was the sidecar outfits.
Before Moto GP they were part of the world championship. 750cc 2 strokes oh that sound…..
You should see the “monkey” work dropping down the Cork Screw,and the third wheel dance…
I have a friend called Geordie who way back in the early 60s not only was a passenger but actually built the whole outfit and won races all over the UK. These guys know no fear – every time I look at the photo he gave me of him and his driver in action I break out in a cold sweat of sheer terror…
LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!