A Wild Look at Sidecars

There are plenty of crazy motorsport categories, the more maniacal ​​the better and Sidecar racing is certainly one of those.  I've photographed Sidecars before on dirt, but as soon as I found out Australia has their own circuit racing championship for Sidecars, it went straight onto my to do list.  Their fourth and final round of the 2024 season would be at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, tagging along with the Victorian Road Racing Championships.

Most known as being a part of the Isle of Man TT motorcycle competition, Sidecars race on circuits across the world, from Kyalami in South Africa to Spa Franchorchamps in Belgium.​  

A 600cc four stroke engine sends power the rear wheel, propelling these machines to maximum speeds of 250km/hr.  The wide and flat slick tyres provide a much larger contact patch then a normal curved motorcycle tyre, providing more grip and better braking performance.  However, because of that third wheel, a sidecar is not symmetrical, which means left and right-hand turns are approached differently.

This is where teamwork comes in as both​ driver and passenger are​ crucial to the balance of the sidecar.  The driver controls the steering of the front wheel, as well as the throttle and brakes via the small handlebars, trusting their passenger who controls the balance of the sidecar as they move across the rear of the vehicle.

Because of the sidecar's asymmetry, it will take right hand corners slower than left hand ones.  The passenger will move to the right behind the driver, shifting weight to that side and in the left corners, hang over the left-hand side.  Even with the passenger's weight hanging over the side, the sidecar still wants to naturally tip over with its wheel in the air.

It's not just the corners where the passengers are moving, they duck down in the straights to reduce drag and pop up in the braking zones to act as an air brake.  There's massive trust involved, as the driver has to trust that the passenger will be in the right place at the right time, whilst the passenger has to trust that the driver will position the sidecar in the right place at the right time.  It's also interesting to see how each passenger both sits and positions their body differently to one another to get the job done.  These guys and girls need to be seriously fit and agile to handle the g-forces and quickly move around the sidecar lap after lap.

​Sidecar riders have no fear and have to have complete trust in each other as the race in pairs, on purpose-built racetracks, through the mountains of the Isle of Man, in quarter mile dirt speedways or even midair on motocross tracks!

Bonus Gallery