Superside

{| style="float:right"
|
FIM Sidecar World Championship is the international sidecar

Sidecar

A sidecar is a one-wheeled device attached to the side of a motorcycle, scooter, or bicycle, producing a three-wheeled vehicle.-History:A sidecar appeared in a cartoon by George Moore in the January 7, 1903, issue of the British newspaper Motor Cycling. Three weeks later, a provisional patent was...

racing championship. It is one of the two remaining original FIM road racing championship classes that started in 1949, the other being the 125cc world championship. It was formerly named Superside when the sidecars moved from being part of Grand Prix Motorcycles racing to being support events for the Superbike World Championship

Superbike World Championship

Superbike World Championship is the worldwide Superbike racing Championship. The championship was founded in . The Superbike World Championship season consists of a series of rounds held on permanent racing facilities...

. In 2010 the FIM takes over the management of the series from the Superside promoters, and the championship is now called "FIM Sidecar World Championship". However, the FIM still uses the word Superside for promotion purposes, despite the demise of the Superside promoters.

The championship is raced over a number of rounds (5 in 2010) at race circuits, mainly in Europe, although in other years they have been held in USA (Laguna Seca), South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

(Kyalami

Kyalami

Kyalami is a motor racing circuit located in Midrand, Gauteng province, South Africa. The circuit has been used for Grand Prix and Formula One races and has hosted the South African Grand Prix many times. In recent years, the area surrounding the circuit has developed into a residential and...

) and Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

(Phillip Island). The 2011 Sachsenring round was a support event for MotoGP, while the Magny-Cours round was a support event for the Bol d'Or

Bol d'or

The Bol d'or is a motorcycle endurance race, held annually in France. Originally, it was an automobile as well as motorcycle race. The automobiles were limited to 1100cc engine capacity until the 1950s when the limit was raised to 1500cc, and later to 2000cc...

.

The 2011 World Champions are Pekka Päivärinta and Adolf Hänni (LCR-Suzuki GSX-R 1000).

Transition Period

Prior to 1977, the racing sidecars were similar to road going sidecars. A traditional racing outfit was a road going motorcycle outfit without the boot and with the suspension lowered. The bootless sidecar frame would have a flat platform. Both the battery and the gas tank would be placed either between the motorcycle and the sidecar, or on the sidecar platform. Overtime the subframe, struts, clamps, sidecar frame, etc. would merge with the motorcycle mainframe and form a single frame. But essentially the racing outfit was still a variant of the road going outfit in principle.

In 1977 George O'Dell won the championship using a Hub-center steering

Hub-center steering

Hub-center steering is one of several different types of front end suspension/steering mechanisms used in motorcycles. Hub-center steering is characterized by a swingarm that extends from the bottom of the engine/frame to the centre of the front wheel instead of two forks.The advantages of using a...

sidecar called the Seymaz. Then in 1978 Rolf Biland won the championship using a sidecar called BEO which was a rear-engine rear-drive trike. To keep up with technological innovations, in 1979 the FIM split the championship in two: One for traditional sidecars (B2A), another for prototypes (B2B). The B2B championship was won by Bruno Holzer using an LCR that turned the act of motorcycle riding into the act of car driving, including sitting on a driver's seat and using foot pedals and a steering wheel. Neither the BEO nor the LCR required any participation from the passenger. The former only required Kenneth Williams to sit on his seat, while the latter only required Charlie Maierhans to lay flat down on the passenger platform. Due to the high cost of technological development, the non-active participation of the riding passengers, and the fear that sidecars would eventually become something that has nothing to do with motorcycles, in 1980 the FIM banned all prototypes. But in 1981 the FIM reversed its decision due to protests from competitors, and allowed prototypes again. However the FIM and the competitors reached a compromise involving the rules: A sidecar must be a vehicle that is driven only by a single rear wheel and steered by a single front wheel, the driver must use a motorcycle handle bar as opposed to a steering wheel for steering, and there must be active participation from the passenger. The only ban that still exists today is the ban of using trikes or cyclecars

Morgan Motor Company

The Morgan Motor Company is a British motor car manufacturer. The company was founded in 1910 by Harry Frederick Stanley Morgan, generally known as "HFS" and was run by him until he died, aged 77, in 1959. Peter Morgan, son of H.F.S., ran the company until a few years before his death in 2003...

.

The 1981 rules remain largely unchanged to this day, with the exception that during the late 90s the FIM finally allowed the use of car type suspension for the front wheel, such as the wishbone suspension. Sidecars that are outside of the technical rules can still compete in racing events, but would not be able to score or record their positions officially. An example would be the team Markus Bösiger/Jürg Egli, who achieved several high placings in the 1998 season using a sidecar in which Bösiger sat driving instead of riding. Even though they were allowed to race, their results were not classified in the official records. They would have finished third in the championship.

The traditional racing sidecars remain popular in several countries, especially the United Kingdom, mainly due to lower cost. They also have lower top speed but better maneuvering capabilities. They are now commonly called Formula Two Sidecars (600cc Engines) which are mostly used in true road racing events like the Isle of Man TT race. This is to distinguish them from the modern post 1980 Superside machines which are now called Formula One sidecars (1000cc Engines).

Today

Today the Sidecars raced in Superside are modern high tech machines related to motorcycles only by the engines that are used. The chassis

Monocoque

Monocoque is a construction technique that supports structural load by using an object's external skin, as opposed to using an internal frame or truss that is then covered with a non-load-bearing skin or coachwork...

are purpose built and owe more to open wheel race car technology and the tires are wide and have a flat profile. They are sometimes known as "worms". The basic design remains unchanged since 1981.

Under FIM regulation, the word "Rider" applies to both the driver and the passenger. The driver is positioned kneeling in front of the engine with hands near the front wheel, while the passenger moves about the platform at the rear transferring their weight from left to right according to the corner and forward or back to gain traction for the front or rear. The passenger also helps the driver when it comes to drifting, and is also usually the first person to notice any engine problems since he is next to the engine while the driver is in front of it. The two must work together to be a successful team. Nowadays it is common to call the driver the "Pilot", while the passenger has several nicknames: the "Acrobat" used in North America which is no longer in use, and the now common term "Monkey" which originated from Australia. Occasionally the words "Co-Driver" or "Co-Pilot" are also used.

The most successful sidecar racer in Superside has been Steve Webster

Steve Webster (sidecar racer)

Steve Webster MBE , is an English sidecar racer who has won a record ten FIM Sidecar World Championships, making him the most successful sidecar racer ever...

, who has won ten world championships between 1987 and 2004. The most successful chassis is LCR

Louis Christen Racing

Louis Christen Racing, commonly known as LCR, is a Swiss sidecar manufacturer named after founder Louis Christen. LCR sidecars have dominated sidecar road racing winning 25 World Sidecar Championships including every one of Steve Webster's 10 world championships.LCR started in 1971 building open...

, the Swiss sidecar maker, whose founder Louis Christen has won 28 championships between 1979 and 2011, with a variety of engines, originally Yamaha

Yamaha Motor Company

, is a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company. Yamaha Motor is part of Yamaha Corporation and its headquarter is located in Iwata, Shizuoka. Along with expanding Yamaha Corporation into the world's biggest piano maker, then Yamaha CEO Genichi Kawakami took Yamaha into the field of motorized...

and Krauser two-strokes, more lately Suzuki

Suzuki

is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Hamamatsu, Japan that specializes in manufacturing compact automobiles and 4x4 vehicles, a full range of motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles , outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a variety of other small internal combustion engines...

four-strokes.
The BMW 50/2 Engine has powered to 19 straight constructors titles from 1955 to 1973, the most by any engines.

Match, Sprint, Gold

Since 2005 the organizers have created a new format in which there are now three types of races. A championship round can have all three type of races. But sometimes there is only one type of race (the Gold Race) in one round, usually when the round is a supporting event of a major meeting such as MotoGP.

Match Race. Teams are divided into groups and race in very short heat races. Winners and the better placing teams in these heats would advance to the next round (semi-finals), until only the best six teams left for the final heat race. A typical heat race distance is three laps.

Sprint Race. All teams participate in a short race. A typical race distance is twelve laps.

Gold Race. All teams participate in a long race, usually twice the distance of the sprint race.

Grand Prix

{| class="wikitable"
! Season
! Driver
! Passenger
! Bike
! Constructor
|-
! colspan=5| 600cc
|-
! 1949
|

Eric Oliver

Eric Staines Oliver was an English motorcycle racer best remembered as four time FIM Sidecar World Champion, riding a Norton. His passenger in 1949 was Denis Jenkinson...

Denis Jenkinson

Denis Sargent Jenkinson , Jenks or DSJ as he was known in the pages of Motor Sport, was a journalist deeply involved in motorsports...

| Norton Manx

Norton Manx

The Norton Manx or Manx Norton is a British racing motorcycle that was made from 1947 to 1962 by Norton Motors Ltd. A Norton had contested every Isle of Man TT race from the inaugural 1907 event through into the 1970s, a feat unrivalled by any other manufacturer, and the development and honing of...

| Norton
|-
! 1950
|

Eric Oliver
|

Eric Oliver
|

Lorenzo Dobelli
| Norton Manx
| Norton
|-
! 1952
|

Cyril Smith
|

Bob Clements

Les Nutt
| Norton Manx
| Norton
|-
! 1953
|

Eric Oliver
|

Stanley Dibben
| Norton Manx
| Norton
|-
! 1954
|

Wilhelm Noll
|

Fritz Cron
| BMW

BMW motorcycles

BMW's motorcycle history began in 1921 when the company commenced manufacturing engines for other companies. Motorcycle manufacturing now operates under the BMW Motorrad brand...

R50/2
| Norton
|-
! 1955
|

Willi Faust
|

Karl Remmert
| BMW R50/2
| BMW
|-
! 1956
|

Wilhelm Noll
|

Fritz Cron
| BMW R50/2
| BMW
|-
! 1957
|

Fritz Hillebrand
|

Manfred Grunwal
| BMW R50/2
| BMW
|-
! 1958
|

Walter Schneider
|

Hans Strauß
| BMW R50/2
| BMW
|-
! 1959
|

Walter Schneider
|

Hans Strauß
| BMW R50/2
| BMW
|-
! 1960
|

Helmut Fath

Helmut Fath , was a German sidecar racer and engineer. He won the Sidecar World Championship in 1960 and 1968. His early racing was on BMW R50 sidecars with a chassis of his own design, but after a bad accident in 1961 took time off only to return with his own design URS four cylinder machine and...

Alfred Wohlgemuth
| BMW R50/2
| BMW
|-
! 1961
|

Max Deubel

Max Deubel is a retired German sidecar racer. He was four time FIM Sidecar World Champion and a three time Isle of Man Sidecar TT winner. In 1962 Deubel and passenger Emil Hörner were the first sidecar team to lap the Isle of Man TT course at over per hour...

Emil Hörner
| BMW R50/2
| BMW
|-
! 1962
|

Max Deubel
|

Emil Hörner
| BMW R50/2
| BMW
|-
! 1963
|

Max Deubel
|

Emil Hörner*
| BMW R50/2
| BMW
|-
! 1964
|

Max Deubel
|

Emil Hörner
| BMW R50/2
| BMW
|-
! 1965
|

Fritz Scheidegger
|

John Robinson
| BMW R50/2
| BMW
|-
! 1966
|

Fritz Scheidegger
|

John Robinson
| BMW R50/2
| BMW
|-
! 1967
|

Klaus Enders

Klaus Enders is a retired German Sidecar racer. He was six-time FIM Sidecar World Champion and a four-time Isle of Man TT winner. Enders decided to retire at the end of the 1970 season and try car racing, only to return to sidecars a year later, winning three more world titles before retiring for...

Ralf Engelhardt
| BMW R50/2
| BMW
|-
! 1968
|

Helmut Fath
|

Wolfgang Kalauch
| URS
| BMW
|-
! 1969
|

Klaus Enders
|

Ralf Engelhardt
| BMW R50/2
| BMW
|-
! 1970
|

Klaus Enders
|

Ralf Engelhardt

Wolfgang Kalauch
| BMW R50/2
| BMW
|-
! 1971
|

Horst Owesle
|

Julius Kremer

Peter Rutterford
| Münch-URS
| BMW
|-
! 1972
|

Klaus Enders
|

Ralf Engelhardt
| BMW R50/2
| BMW
|-
! 1973
|

Klaus Enders
|

Ralf Engelhardt
| BMW R50/2
| BMW
|-
! 1974
|

Klaus Enders
|

Ralf Engelhardt
| Busch-BMW R50/2
| König
|-
! 1975
|

Rolf Steinhausen
|

Josef Huber
| Busch-König

Dieter Konig

Dieter König not only raced hydroplanes, but was also responsible for manufacturing the engines that powered them. During the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s his "König" engines dominated the sport.The engines were manufactured in Berlin, Germany...

| König
|-
! 1976
|

Rolf Steinhausen
|

Josef Huber
| Busch-König
| König
|-
! 1977
|

George O'Dell
|

Kenny Arthur

Cliff Holland
| Windle

Windle (sidecar)

Windle was an English sidecar manufacturer that built road racing sidecars. The company was founded by Terry Windle and provided both monocoque Formula 1 as well as tubular Formula 2 chassis for use from club level racing up to and including World Championship level...

-Yamaha

Yamaha Motor Company

TZ500

Yamaha TZR250

The Yamaha TZR250 is motorcycle manufactured and produced by the Japanese motorcycle manufacturer Yamaha between 1986 and 1996.Yamaha produced road going 2-stroke motorcycle, loosely based on the TZ250 Yamaha racing bike. Parallel-twin, reverse cylinder and finally V-twin variants were produced. It...

Seymaz-Yamaha TZ500
| Yamaha
|-
! 1978
|

Rolf Biland

Rolf Biland is a Swiss former sidecar racer. He is known not only for his seven FIM Sidecar World Championships and 81 Grand Prix wins, but for his experimentation and innovation with new types of machine, like the Seymaz, the BEO and the LCR. His success was not limited to Grand Prix tracks, as...

Kenneth Williams
| TTM-Yamaha TZ500
BEO-Yamaha TZ500
| Yamaha
|-
! 1979
(B2A)
|

Rolf Biland
|

Kurt Waltisperg
| Schmid-Yamaha TZ500
| Yamaha
|-
! 1979
(B2B)
|

Bruno Holzer
|

Charlie Maierhans
| LCR

Louis Christen Racing

-Yamaha TZ500
| Yamaha
|-
! 1980
|

Jock Taylor

Jock Taylor was a Scottish World Champion motorcycle sidecar racer.John Robert Taylor was born in Pencaitland, East Lothian, and entered his first sidecar race at the age of 19, as the passenger to Kenny Andrews . The following year he took part in his first race as a driver.-Racing career:Taylor...

Benga Johansson
| Windle-Yamaha TZ500
| Yamaha
|-
! 1981
|

Rolf Biland
|

Kurt Waltisperg
| LCR-Yamaha TZ500
| Yamaha
|-
! 1982
|

Werner Schwärzel
|

Andreas Huber
| Seymaz-Yamaha TZ500
| Yamaha
|-
! 1983
|

Rolf Biland
|

Kurt Waltisperg
| LCR-Yamaha TZ500
| Yamaha
|-
! 1984
|

Egbert Streuer
|

Bernard Schnieders
| LCR-Yamaha TZ500
| Yamaha
|-
! 1985
|

Egbert Streuer
|

Bernard Schnieders
| LCR-Yamaha TZ500
| Yamaha
|-
! 1986
|

Egbert Streuer
|

Bernard Schnieders
| LCR-Yamaha TZ500
| Yamaha
|-
! 1987
|

Steve Webster

Steve Webster (sidecar racer)

Steve Webster MBE , is an English sidecar racer who has won a record ten FIM Sidecar World Championships, making him the most successful sidecar racer ever...

Tony Hewitt
| LCR-Krauser
| Krauser
|-
! 1988
|

Steve Webster
|

Tony Hewitt

Gavin Simmons
| LCR-Krauser
| Krauser
|-
! 1989
|

Steve Webster
|

Tony Hewitt
| LCR-Krauser
| Krauser
|-
! 1990
|

Alain Michel
|

Simon Birchall
| LCR-Krauser
| Krauser
|-
! 1991
|

Steve Webster
|

Gavin Simmons
| LCR-Krauser
| Krauser
|-
! 1992
|

Rolf Biland
|

Kurt Waltisperg
| LCR-Krauser
| Krauser
|-
! 1993
|

Rolf Biland
|

Kurt Waltisperg
| LCR-Krauser
| Krauser
|-
! 1994
|

Rolf Biland
|

Kurt Waltisperg
| LCR-Swissauto

Swissauto

Swissauto is an engine company from Burgdorf, Switzerland, best known for the V4 engine used in the, ELF, MuZ and Pulse 500cc Grand Prix motorcycles and World Championship Sidecars. It also has developed one of the most efficient ICE range extender engines for plug in hybrid electric...

V4
| ADM
|-
! 1995
|

Darren Dixon

Darren Dixon is an English motorcycle racer. Originally a solo racer, he later raced sidecars. He won the British F1 Championship in 1988 on a RG500 and made some 500cc Grand Prix appearances. His greatest achievement was winning the Sidecar World Championship in 1995 and 1996. Dixon later went on...

Andy Hetherington
| Windle-ADM
| ADM
|-
! 1996
|

Darren Dixon
|

Andy Hetherington
| Windle-ADM
| ADM
|}

Sidecar World Cup

{| class="wikitable"
! Season
! Driver
! Passenger
! Bike
|-
! 1997
|

Steve Webster
|

Steve Webster
|

David James
| LCR-Honda

Honda

is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...

|-
! 1999
|

Steve Webster
|

David James
| LCR-Suzuki GSX-R 1000
|-
! 2000
|

Steve Webster
|

Paul Woodhead
| LCR-Suzuki GSX-R 1000
|}

{| class="wikitable"
! Season
! Driver
! Passenger
! Bike
|-
! colspan=4| 1000cc 4-stroke
|-
! 2001
|

Klaus Klaffenböck

Klaus Klaffenböck is an Austrian World Champion in the FIM World Sidecar Championship. After winning the 2001 World Sidecar Championship with passenger Christian Parzer with a LCR Suzuki sidecar, Klaus Klaffenböck now competes at the Isle of Man TT Races...

Christian Parzer
| LCR-Suzuki GSX-R 1000
|-
! 2002
|

Steve Abbott
|

Jamie Biggs
| Windle

Windle (sidecar)

-Yamaha EXUP
|-
! 2003
|

Steve Webster
|

Paul Woodhead
| LCR-Suzuki GSX-R 1000
|}

Superside World Cup

{| class="wikitable"
! Season
! Driver
! Passenger
! Bike
|-
! 2004
|

Steve Webster
|

Paul Woodhead
| LCR-Suzuki GSX-R 1000
|}

Superside

{| class="wikitable"
! Season
! Driver
! Passenger
! Bike
|-
! 2005
|

Tim Reeves

Tim Reeves is an English sidecar racer from Maidstone, Kent. He is a three time Superside FIM World Sidecar Champion, twice with his younger brother Tristan , and once with Patrick Farrance as passenger....

Tristan Reeves
| LCR-Suzuki GSX-R 1000
|-
! 2006
|

Tim Reeves
|

Tristan Reeves
| LCR-Suzuki GSX-R 1000
|-
! 2007
|

Tim Reeves
|

Patrick Farrance**
| LCR-Suzuki GSX-R 1000
|-
! 2008
|

Pekka Päivärinta

Pekka Päivärinta (motorcycle racer)

Pekka Päivärinta is a Finnish sidecar motorcycle racer, who with passenger Timo Karttiala, was the 2008 Superside FIM World Sidecar Champion. Päivärinta rode a Suzuki GSXR1000 powered LCR as part of Team Suzuki Finland and is the first Finn to win a world sidecar title...

Timo Karttiala
| LCR-Suzuki GSX-R 1000
|-
! 2009
|

Ben Birchall
|

Tom Birchall
| LCR-Suzuki GSX-R 1000
|}

Sidecar World Championship

{| class="wikitable"
! Season
! Driver
! Passenger
! Bike
|-
! 2010
|

Pekka Päivärinta
|

Adolf Hänni
| LCR-Suzuki GSX-R1000
|-
! 2011
|

Pekka Päivärinta
|

Adolf Hänni
| LCR-Suzuki GSX-R1000
|}

Trivia

Werner Schwärzel and Karl Heinz Kleis was the first team to win a race (1974 German GP) using a 2-stroke engine (König), Steve Abbott and Jamie Biggs was the last team to win a race (1999 World Superbike Championship round 8 Brands Hatch) using a 2-stroke engine (Honda).

Jock Taylor and Benga Johansson was the last team to use a traditional sidecar to win the championship (1980) and a race (1981 Austrian GP).

External links

FIM Sidecar World Championship FIM Sidecar World Championship Website

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.