Sidecarcross

Sidecarcross, or sidecar motocross, is similar to motocross with solo motorcycles, except that it is a team sport. The driver and passenger move the motocross team together , the driver on the handlebars with gas and brakes, the passenger by shifting weight.

vehicles

The motocross teams are not solo motorcycles with an attached sidecar, but special designs that are produced in small series. Manufacturers of frames include:

AYR ( Estonia ) - built and sold by Estonia's sidecarcross legend Are Kaurit
MEFO ( Czech Republic ) - the German Willi Liebl mainly sells motocross tires in addition to the frame.
VMC ( Belgium ) - produced the world championship frame from 2003 to 2009/6 × D. Willemsen (NL) / 1 × Jo. Hendrickx (B). The multiple German champion Marko Happich has also been driving a VMC frame since 2011.
WSP ( Netherlands ) - behind WSP (Willemsen-Sidecar-Productions) is Berry Willemsen, father of eight-time world champion Daniel Willemsen (NL). WSP became the world's first constructors' champion in 2010.
BSU (Belgium) - had his most successful time in the mid-1990s with five-time world champion Kristers Sergis (LV).
EML (Netherlands) - most recently built road and quads, but also sidecarcross frames on request, dominated the World Cup in the 1980s with its frames, mainly driven by the Swiss teams.
WHT (Netherlands) - new since 2009, has already had some top teams among its customers despite having been with the company for a short time.
In the 1970s, the English of WASP had absolute supremacy, but then gradually withdrew from the sidecarcross scene and concentrated on the road teams, and enjoys an extremely good reputation among the team drivers.
The manufacturers SpaTech from Switzerland, BasTech and Hocob from the Netherlands are hardly known, but represented with a small number of units.

When it comes to engines, too, there are several manufacturers who are sometimes more, sometimes less frequently represented. Only two or four-stroke engines are used, which can have a minimum of 350 and a maximum of 750 cm³ for single cylinders . Friedhelm Zabel's two-stroke engine manufacturer, his two-stroke engines with 700 cc and approx. 87 hp, still holds the record of having won six consecutive and a total of ten world championships with Daniel Willemsen (NL) as driver. Another manufacturer of two-stroke engines is the Austrian company MTH , which with Kristers Sergis (LV) as a driver has already won three world championship titles (2000-2003). Two-stroke engines are very high-revving units that have their full power in the upper speed range.

The exact opposite of this, namely with a lot of power from below, is what the four-stroke engines bring with them. KTM , based on the LC4 and the SX525, more or less provides the basic model, but mostly the engines are tuned by specialist companies such as Frauenschuh-Tuning and equipped with more displacement and, above all, more power. In 2009, KTM won its first design engineer title since 1997 through the Belgian Joris Hendrickx. In the meantime, in addition to KTM, the two Swedish engine manufacturers Husaberg and Husqvarna have also been represented with four-stroke engines. And not to forget of course the Czechs with their "steam hammers" from Jawa, known from the speedway . Further options are the Japanese cross engines such as Kawasaki , Honda or Yamaha , which, however, have too little displacement and power as standard and would have to be tuned accordingly, but are still sporadically represented in the amateur sector.

The teams assemble the teams themselves for the most part, including fitting the engines, exhaust and cooling systems. Finished competitor devices, new from stock such as B. is to buy a car, there is no such direct. When buying a new frame, you can get the desired engine (two- / four-stroke) as well as damper systems and wheels, but in most cases the teams have many specific wishes when building a trailer, so that it usually runs on its own. The Reiger Suspensions company enjoys a very high reputation because of its long experience in the field of motorsport. B. at the Grand Prix of the world championship, always with a service car and specialist staff on site to maintain, overhaul or repair your chassis or damper systems.

Competitions

The races usually take place on the same racetracks every season, similar to Solomotocross. But even with three wheels and two people (driver and co-driver), jumps of 20 to 25 m, at least for the top teams, are no problem with the 180 to 200 kg teams. However , there is no supercross with washboard slopes. In the world championship, the race distance is twice 30 minutes plus two laps (i.e. when the 30 minutes have expired and the leader arrives at the start / finish, two more laps are driven). Likewise, in most countries (e.g. Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic, France) at the internationally advertised events of the national associations (e.g. German Motor Sport Association , Royal Dutch Motorsport Association), two times 30 minutes plus are required drove two laps. This is different, however, in the amateur field, which u. a. also organized throughout Europe in its own association IMBA. The IMBA is an amalgamation of all national amateur associations. The winner of the IMBA championship is more or less the reigning European champion and / or amateur champion. In the IMBA, three times 20 minutes plus two laps are driven per event or race weekend. The IMBA belongs to the German DAMCV, within which there is also a sidecar class, in which two 18 minutes plus two laps have to be completed as a race distance. The DAMCV races are mainly in West Germany. In addition, there is the LVMX series for amateurs in eastern Germany, with two 20-minute plus two laps in the team class.

The FIM has officially hosted a world championship since 1981 . On average, the World Cup season consists of ten to 14 grands prix. As is usually the case every year, the grand prizes take place in the same countries and on the same racetracks. For example, the race tracks in Ķegums ( Latvia ), Straßbessenbach (Germany), Genk (Belgium), Slagelse ( Denmark ) and the final in Rudersberg (Germany) have been an integral part of the World Cup calendar for a number of years. The other races take place every year in France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, England, Estonia, Ukraine , Russia , Italy and, since 2009, also regularly in Poland .

In 2010, 14 Grands Prix had to be contested with a total of 28 races. In 2012 there were 12 Grands Prix with a total of 24 races. A logistical challenge in August 2012 was the so-called "East Block Tour" with the Grands Prix in Kivioli (Estonia), Kegums (Latvia) and Kamens-Uralsky (Russia), which is located 1,900 km east of Moscow at the gates of Yekaterinburg . In every race, regardless of whether it is a world, European or national championship, a maximum of 32 teams can qualify for the final races. However, a maximum of 30 teams are allowed to start, the two reserve teams remain, who then move up into the starting field if a qualified team does not start / cannot start. The winner of a race receives 25 points. Points are awarded to the first 20th of each race. The further distribution of points is: 1./25P; 2./22P .; 3./20P .; 4th / 18th p .; 5./16P .; 6./15P .; 7./14P .; 8./13P .; 9th/12P .; 10./11P .; 11./10P .; 12./9P .; 13./8P .; 14./7P .; 15./6P .; 16./5P .; 17./4P .; 18./3P .; 19./2P .; 20./1P.

In the event of a tie, the majority of the better placements in the individual races will decide. Since 2002 there has been a so-called European team championship (Team EM) in which each nation nominates three teams. There are three races of 30 minutes each plus two laps. Two teams per nation always start in each of the three races. The awarding of points here is exactly the opposite of that at the World Cup, it means to have as few points as possible with all three teams in the end, if the result is canceled. The team EM took place in Oss (Netherlands) in 2012, the team from the Netherlands won the EM title ahead of Latvia and England. The German team landed on a good fifth place. Since the introduction of the European team in 2002, Germany has only won the European team title once, namely in 2004 in the “home game” in Rudersberg . (written by Sebastian Aull)

Web links

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