Sidecar World Championship
| Sport | Motorcycle sport |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1949 |
| Countries | International |
| Most recent champion(s) |
Pekka Päivärinta (driver) Kirsi Kainulainen (passenger) LCR-BMW S 1000 RR |
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. 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 (8 in 2013) at race circuits, mainly in Europe, although in other years they have been held in United States (Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca), South Africa (Kyalami) and Australia (Phillip Island).
The 2013 Calendar consists of races in Aragon (Spain, supporting the WSBK), Rijeka (Croatia), two rounds at Assen (Netherlands, first round supporting MotoGP), Sachsenring (Germany, supporting MotoGP), Oschersleben (Germany, supporting Endurance World Championship), Schleiz (Germany), and Le Mans (France, supporting Endurance World Championship).
In 2014, for the first time a Kawasaki rig won the title with Tim Reeves and Gregory Cluze ending an 11 years consecutive Suzuki run. In 2016 Kirsi Kainulainen became the first woman motorcycle world champion.
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 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.
In 1977 George O'Dell won the championship using a Hub-center steering sidecar called the Seymaz, however during that season the Seymaz was rarely used. The Seymaz had been built by Rolf Biland, however O'Dell used his old Windle frame for much of the year. 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 much participation from the passenger. The former only required Clifford 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.
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