Sidecar World Championship

FIM Sidecar World Championship is the international sidecar racing championship. It is the only remaining original FIM road racing championship class that started in 1949.

FIM Sidecar World Championship
SportMotorcycle sport
Founded1949
CountriesInternational
Most recent
champion(s)		Tim Reeves (driver)
Mark Wilkes (passenger)
Adolf RS-Yamaha YZF-R6

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. In 2010 the FIM took over the management of the series from the Superside promoters, and the championship was 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 at circuits mainly in Europe, although other venues have been included in United States (Monterey), South Africa at Kyalami and Australia's Phillip Island.

History

Formative years
Chis Vincent on the Norton-BSA outfit he used for 1958 in grasstrack and 1959 for road racing, just by changing the tyre tread, a low sitter achieved by 16 inch wheels instead of 19 and showing an early version of the passenger platform which endured until the late 1970s

When the sidecar world championships began in 1949, they were dominated by unambiguous, orthodox outfits where a sidecar was attached to a conventional solo motorcycle. Rigidity and strength were poorly understood and pre-war machines have been described as "scaffolding on wheels". Development was based around cutting weight, providing a flat platform for the passenger, and reducing drag around the sidecar wheel and at the front of the sidecar platform.[1] When developments in dolphin and dustbin fairings on solo machines proved successful at reducing drag, it was natural to adapt similar streamlined enclosures for the sidecar outfits. A pioneer in this area was Eric Oliver who worked with the Watsonian company on the development of successive experimental racing outfits including such innovations as the use of 16 in (410 mm) diameter wheels.[1]

Design changes

By 1953, motorcycle frames had undergone a complete redesign to accommodate the side car. Seat heights had been reduced to the point where the driver now sat in a semi-prone position. This permitted the use of a one-piece fairing which enclosed the front of the outfit as well as the sidecar platform.[2] The enclosure led to unfamiliar handling, and the advanced design was only used in practice for the Belgian Grand Prix and in the final Grand Prix at Monza, where it finished fourth in the hands of Jacques Drion and Inge Stoll.[3] Throughout the year, other outfits experimented with more modest refinements such as additional braking via the sidecar wheel, sometimes linked to one or both of the other two brakes.[4]

BMW RS54 Rennsport 500 cc engine as installed in a modern replica of Max Deubel's 1960s low sitter

Nevertheless, racing sidecars remained intrinsically the same 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 fuel tank could be placed either between the motorcycle and the sidecar, or on the sidecar platform. Over time 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.

Technical innovation

Beginning in 1977 there was a seismic shift away from the traditional engineering that had underscored sidecar technology up to this point. It began when George O'Dell won the championship using a Hub-center steering sidecar (built by Rolf Biland) called the Seymaz. O'Dell won despite the Seymaz being rarely raced during the season in favor of using a traditional Windle frame for much of the year. The next year Rolf Biland won the 1978 championship using a BEO-Yamaha TZ500 sidecar which was basically a rear-engine, rear-drive trike.

In 1979 the FIM responded to these technological innovations by splitting the sidecar championship into two competitions:

  • B2A - traditional sidecars
  • B2B - prototypes

Bruno Holzer won the B2B championship with an LCR BEO-Yamaha sidecar that turned motorcycling into something more like driving a car because the machine had a driver's seat, steering wheel and using foot pedals. It also did not require much participation from the sidecar passenger who just had to lie flat on the passenger platform.

In 1980, due to the revolutionary changes being made by the constructors to their designs, the FIM banned all sidecar prototypes because it was concerned that the developments were turning passengers into non-active participants, and the machines were ceasing to resemble motorcycles.

However, a year later FIM reversed its decision and reached a compromise after protests from the teams. Prototypes would be permitted to race subject to the following rules:

  • it must be a vehicle that is driven only by a single rear wheel
  • it must be steered by a single front wheel
  • it must be steered by a motorcycle handle bar not a steering wheel
  • it must require the active participation from the passenger.

The 1981 rules remain largely unchanged. For example, trikes or cyclecars are still banned. However, there have been a few amendments and easing of the rules. In the late 1990s the FIM allowed a sidecar front wheel to have automobile-style suspension (e.g. wishbone configurations. Likewise sidecars that are outside of the technical rules are permitted to compete in races but their results, points or finishes are not recorded. An example is the Markus Bösiger/Jürg Egli team who would have finished third in the 1998 championship season. However, as they were using a configuration where Bösiger sat in an upright driving position no results were entered in the official records.

Sidecars on starting grid

Under FIM regulations, "rider" applies equally to the driver and the passenger on a sidecar. 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.

Traditional sidecar racing remain popular in several countries, especially the United Kingdom, where it known as Formula Two Sidecars (600cc Engines). They are generally uses in true road racing events like the Isle of Man TT races. Despite their lower top speeds, these machines retain better manoeuvring capabilities.

Modern racing
LCR Sidecar in race paddock

Between 1981 and 2016 Superside machines were known as Formula One sidecars using a basic unchanged design. These modern high tech machines are only related to motorcycles by the classification of the engines they use. All chassis 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".[5]

The most successful sidecar racer in Superside has been Steve Webster, who has won four world championships and six world cup between 1987 and 2004. The most successful chassis is LCR, the Swiss sidecar maker, whose founder Louis Christen has won 35 championships between 1979 and 2016, with a variety of engines, originally Yamaha and Krauser two-strokes, more lately Suzuki four-strokes. The BMW Rennsport RS54 Engine powered to 19 straight constructors titles from 1955 to 1973, the most by any engines.

In 2014, for the first time a Kawasaki-powered machine won the title with Tim Reeves and Gregory Cluze ending an 11-year consecutive Suzuki run. In 2016 Kirsi Kainulainen became the first woman motorcycle world champion, as passenger to Pekka Päivärinta.[6]

However, in 2017 the engine capacity of F1 sidecars was reduced from 1000cc to 600cc. This was a conscious effort by FIM to attract more participation from racers who still preferred the traditional F2 chassis. By reducing the engine size, it was hoped that this would mean competition on more equal terms. Nevertheless, the 2017 championship was still dominated by competitors using the F1 chassis. The highest placed F2 chassis team was 12th by Eckart Rösinger and Steffen Werner on their Baker-Suzuki GSX-R600.

Formats

Since 2005 there are now three types of race classes. Any given 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.

FIM Sidecar World Champions

Grand Prix
Season Driver Passenger Bike Constructor
600cc
1949 Eric Oliver Denis Jenkinson Norton Manx Norton
1950 Eric Oliver Lorenzo Dobelli Norton Manx Norton
500cc
1951 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 RS54 Norton
1955 Willi Faust Karl Remmert BMW RS54 BMW
1956 Wilhelm Noll Fritz Cron BMW RS54 BMW
1957 Fritz Hillebrand Manfred Grunwal BMW RS54 BMW
1958 Walter Schneider Hans Strauß BMW RS54 BMW
1959 Walter Schneider Hans Strauß BMW RS54 BMW
1960 Helmut Fath Alfred Wohlgemuth BMW RS54 BMW
1961 Max Deubel Emil Hörner BMW RS54 BMW
1962 Max Deubel Emil Hörner BMW RS54 BMW
1963 Max Deubel Emil Hörner* BMW RS54 BMW
1964 Max Deubel Emil Hörner BMW RS54 BMW
1965 Fritz Scheidegger John Robinson BMW RS54 BMW
1966 Fritz Scheidegger John Robinson BMW RS54 BMW
1967 Klaus Enders Ralf Engelhardt BMW RS54 BMW
1968 Helmut Fath Wolfgang Kalauch URS BMW
1969 Klaus Enders Ralf Engelhardt BMW RS54 BMW
1970 Klaus Enders Ralf Engelhardt
Wolfgang Kalauch		 BMW RS54 BMW
1971 Horst Owesle Julius Kremer
Peter Rutterford		 Münch-URS BMW
1972 Klaus Enders Ralf Engelhardt BMW RS54 BMW
1973 Klaus Enders Ralf Engelhardt BMW RS54 BMW
1974 Klaus Enders Ralf Engelhardt Busch-BMW RS54 König
1975 Rolf Steinhausen Josef Huber Busch-König König
1976 Rolf Steinhausen Josef Huber Busch-König König
1977 George O'Dell Kenny Arthur
Cliff Holland		 Windle-Yamaha TZ500
Seymaz-Yamaha TZ500		 Yamaha
1978 Rolf Biland 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-Yamaha TZ500 Yamaha
1980 Jock 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 Tony Hewitt LCR-Yamaha TZ500 Yamaha
1988 Steve Webster Tony Hewitt
Gavin Simmons		 LCR-Yamaha TZ500 Yamaha
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 V4 ADM **
1995 Darren Dixon Andy Hetherington Windle-ADM ADM
1996 Darren Dixon Andy Hetherington Windle-ADM ADM
Sidecar World Cup
1997 Steve Webster David James LCR-ADM
500cc 2-stroke or 1000cc 4-stroke
1998 Steve Webster David James LCR-Honda
1999 Steve Webster David James LCR-Suzuki GSX-R 1000
2000 Steve Webster Paul Woodhead LCR-Suzuki GSX-R 1000
Superside
1000cc 4-stroke
2001 Klaus Klaffenböck Christian Parzer LCR-Suzuki GSX-R 1000
2002 Steve Abbott Jamie Biggs Windle-Yamaha EXUP
2003 Steve Webster Paul Woodhead LCR-Suzuki GSX-R 1000
Superside World Cup
2004 Steve Webster Paul Woodhead LCR-Suzuki GSX-R 1000
Superside
2005 Tim Reeves 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 Timo Karttiala LCR-Suzuki GSX-R 1000
2009 Ben Birchall Tom Birchall LCR-Suzuki GSX-R 1000
Superside Sidecar World Championship
2010 Pekka Päivärinta Adolf Hänni LCR-Suzuki GSX-R1000
2011 Pekka Päivärinta Adolf Hänni LCR-Suzuki GSX-R1000
2012 Tim Reeves Ashley Hawes LCR-Suzuki GSX-R1000
2013 Pekka Päivärinta Adolf Hänni LCR-Suzuki GSX-R1000
2014 Tim Reeves Gregory Cluze LCR-Kawasaki ZX-10R
2014
(F2 World Trophy)		 Tim Reeves Gregory Cluze DMR-Honda CBR600
2015 Bennie Streuer Geert Koerts LCR Suzuki GSX-R1000
2015
(F2 World Trophy)		 Tim Reeves Patrick Farrance DMR-Honda CBR600
2016 Pekka Päivärinta Kirsi Kainulainen**** LCR-BMW S 1000RR
2016
(F2 World Trophy)		 Ben Birchall Tom Birchall LCR-Honda CBR600
600 cc 4-stroke
2017
Ben Birchall Tom Birchall LCR-Yamaha YZF-R6
2018
Ben Birchall Tom Birchall LCR-Yamaha YZF-R6
2019
Tim Reeves Mark Wilkes Adolf RS-Yamaha YZF-R6

Notes

* Barry Dungworth was a substitute for the injured Emil Hörner in the Isle of Man round. The team finished eighth and received no points.
** After the withdrawal of Michael Krauser GmBH from racing, former employee Auf Der Mauer took over and branded the engines as ADM.
*** Stuart Graham was injured during the practice session of the first round in Schleiz. Patrick Farrance substituted for the race and for the rest of the season.
**** First woman to become an FIM world champion in any discipline.

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).
** Tim Reeves and Mark Wilkes won the first race of the season in France (Le Mans) using a German-made Adolf RS-Yamaha sidecar, thus ended LCR's winning every single race for the last 15 seasons dating back to 2003, the longest winning streak in the history of the championship by a single constructor.

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References
  1. Louis, Harry (26 March 1953). "Four World's Championships". The Motor Cycle. London: Iliffe & Sons Ltd. 90 (2607): 372–374.
  2. "The Next Stage". The Motor Cycle. London: Iliffe & Sons Ltd. 91 (2621): 24–25. 2 July 1953.
  3. Quantrill, Cyril (10 September 1953). "The Italian G.P.". Motor Cycling. 88 (2276): 560–562.
  4. "Terrific Speeds in Belgian Grand Prix". The Motor Cycle. London: Iliffe & Sons Ltd. 91 (2622): 46–48. 9 July 1953.
  5. Motor Cycle News 5 May 1982, p.7 Jock Taylor in the chair. Worms all the way. "The nickname 'worm' stems from last year's Austrian GP when Biland's first 'worm' wriggled all over the track". Accessed and added 2015-03-03
  6. Historic world championship title for BMW sidecar Duo Pekka Päivärinta/Kirsi Kainulainen BMW Group, 19 September 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2017
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