Sidecar speedway

Sidecar Speedway is a motorcycle sport involving 4 crews of a rider and a passenger competing over 4 laps on an oval shale surface. Rules are governed by the national speedway federation and are not dissimilar to conventional speedway rules.

Sidecar speedway is most popular in Australia although in Great Britain it also has a strong following. Sidecar speedway events are also held in New Zealand, South Africa and United States of America. Because of the nature of the sports hotbeds being spread so wide across the globe, organising an official World Championsip has been an arduous task, though in 2006 the first successful Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme World Track Racing Sidecar Championships (Sidecar Gold Cup) were held at Isle of Wight Speedway stadium. Queenslanders Scott Christopher and Trent Koppe were crowned the first ever official World Sidecar Champions. The event was screened live on Sky Sports.

Nature of the sport

Racing sidecars on speedway involves a rider and a passenger mounted on a 1000cc purpose built, three-wheeled sidecar outfit. The passenger of the machine is as much involved in the race performance as the rider. The two members of the sidecar crew work in unison to ride the outfit as best they can. Speedway circuits are a loose shale surface and therefore traction is all important. The passenger plays a major part in controlling the amount of traction being created on the rear wheel. He does so by moving his weight forwards, backwards and sideways (either in to or out of the machine). The outfit only ever turns right so the passenger only finds himself on the right hand side of the outfit.

Sidecar speedway is much less popular than conventional speedway, though by no means less spectacular. Like conventional speedway, the machines are equipped with no brakes or traction control systems. However, they are powered by huge 1000cc engines, taken from roadrace superbikes. Therefore, power output can be anything up to 180 bhp and top speeds can reach up to 80 mph. Sidecar speedway is also very similar to sidecar Grasstrack and many crews race both disciplines. For example the 2007 British Sidecar Speedway Champions Gary Jackson and Carl Blyth are also regualr competitors in Grasstrack racing, Jackson being a former British Grasstrack champion himself.

One main difference between sidecar speedway and more conventional speedway is the rule of contact. In solo speedway, any contact is strictly forbidden, and this rule is enforced strongly by referees. However, due to the nature of sidecar speedway outfits being much larger, contact is inevitable between machines. Although if a machine is deemed to take an advantage by 'barging' another competitor off the racing line whilst 'under power', then they may be excluded. This rule is very difficult to judge and enforce and therefore is often the cause of controversy.

Crews can also be excluded for losing their passenger.Similar rules to conventional speedway include
*running off the racing circuit (surprisingly easy on a machine that will only turn right).
*touching or braking the starting tapes when under starters orders (again, easily done with a clutch holding back 180bhp).
*Being unable to make the start within a 2 minute time allowance.

Also in British Speedway the SCB enforce the use of dirt deflectors on the rear of the machine.

Events

Sidecar Speedway in Australia has been popular for many years. Events at Broken Hill, Mildura and Murray Bridge have involved sidecars since the 1940's. The main event in the sidecar calendar for Aussies, however is the Australian Sidecar Championships, a two day event involving all of the top Australian sidecar outfits. Motorcycling Australia have also allowed riders from England to compete but no recent success has been recorded. Another big event is the Australian Pairs title, where the best riders from each state pair up and compete against other states.

In the UK, sidecar speedway has had more of a troubled upbringing. In the early 1990's the 'World Of Rebels' series was ran, involving sidecars from England, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. This event eventually died out, with cost of travel and track wear being fingered as problems. A British Championship was ran at Coventry Speedway every year, mostly involving Grasstrack machines. However, in 2000, the Supercup Qualifier was ran at Kings Lynn and it sparked a new era for sidecar speedway. The 'Supercup' ran for a few years, bringing with it many sidecar stars from Australia, New Zealand, and USA. During this time, the British Sidecar Speedway Championships were made official, again another big landmark for sidecar speedway.

In modern times, the Supercup has since diminished but the British Championships still run strong. They run over a series of rounds at different speedway tracks. The Supercup was re-established in 2008 as a one night event at Isle of Wight Speedway and was won by World Champions Darrin Treloar/Justin Plaisted.

The major event in sidecar speedway, however is the FIM Track Racing Gold Trophy. It had a troubled start, being cancelled due to rain at its Wertle venue. Since then, the event has been a success. Riders from Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain and Holland have competed, though the Australian teams have dominated the events to date. The 2009 event is set to be staged at La Reole in Southern France.