Marci
11-03-2005, 07:56 AM
Tis done. It was the last round of the MMRA British MinimotoSidecar Championships the weekend just gone by... and god was it wet.
The last round was held at Kinsham - home of Chas Davies (literally - the circuit is in his garden effectively) in Wales - tis a well-known Karting Circuit over here, and is getting demolished next year so this was the last time there for us.
As my Sidecar Pilot couldn't attend, and therefore neither could the Sidecar, I decided to prearrange a few rides on the competition.
I race in the 4stroke class on a CBR125 based engine. Nice n smooth when it comes to power delivery, and by no means the fastest outfit out on the track... but fastest of all the 4 strokes. I managed to blag me a ride on the fastest one there is. Mike Mantell's 2stroke RD80LC based outfit had managed to close the door on the F2 championship and MMS Open Championship by Round7, as had myself and Rich for the 4T championship, so it was logical for me to play with him for the first day - neither of us had anything to lose but auxilliary points.
I was expecting a harder time than I actually got from the engine. Drop off much more speed into the corner and then sharp snap of acceleration coming back out... this is normally the point where a passenger can lose the plot and end up sat on the apex watching the rear of the outfit disappear sideways off the track. Well, not the case fortunately. Managed to stay on without issue, but resulted in a LOT of pain. Why?
No 2 sidecars are the same. Handle position and foothold position / grip plates etc are all customised for the passenger. I think when it comes to passenger trays, our own outfit has more space than any other - handy as I think I'm one of the tallest passengers in the championship. EVERYONE ELSE however has comparatively short things, and the outfits I tried had no footholds at all or grip plates. I can now see why the other passengers complain about how hard it is.
Result? Different set of muscles.... and BOY do they hurt now. Our outfit is absolute BLISS in comparison. Hanging out for a lefthander is as comfy as a good armchair, and righthanders are as comfy as sprawling on yer bed.
So, morning practice came and went, and I left Mike with us holding 2nd fastest time overall. For afternoon qualifying I joined outfit 155 - Chris Bell. Chris is our main competition in the 4T Class, but his passenger was a no-show, so logically I jumped on board. Our championship was settled so he already had firm 2nd place... mainly did it just for tracktime. No point going racing and not racing after all is there?!
Chris' outfit is based on the MZ125 engine. A big hefty affair compared to the CBR125, but also infinitely more tunable via off-the-shelf performance addons. The added weight on right-handers, partnered with the added weight of me (being bgiger and taller than natalie, his usual passenger) resulted in us coming out of every righthander sideways. Lefthanders are always exited sideways, but right is a bit more rare...
It also didn't help that it was lashing it down and we were racing on cut slicks cos we couldn't be arsed changing over to wets... but hey-ho.
As it goes we were the only 4T outfit there, so we could more or less do what we wanted and just had fun. Became the mission to take every corner sideways, and contend with the back of the F1 and F2 classes... which we did with glee.
Sadly got dumped however. There are two hairpins sidebyside. A right hairpin straight into a left hairpin. We came charging thru the right with me well-planted on the back.... the outfit came out the apex sideways a bit further than anticipated and we looked to be heading wayward, so I bounced as hard as I could over the back wheel to dig it in and pivot.
Oops
It certainly did. Instinctively I went for the front left-hand grip, forgetting on this outfit that it was 2" further forward than on mine.... missed completely and went rolling down the track into the path of John Carver's F1 outfit (well swerved John!). Out the side of my visor I watched sparks and mud fly as the outfit and Chris went straight on instead of going left.... churning mud up as it landed over the castellated kerbs. I was unhurt.... however, discovered the main problem quickly. Due to new muscles being used, my legs had turned to jelly completely... imagine pins and needles in both feet, but having to run 100ft to yer sidecar!
Ended the day with a series of burnouts up the home straight... How does one do a burnout on a sidecar? Well, on this circuit, the homestraight comes directly after a big sweeping left hander (incidentally, with a puddle 10ft long, 3 ft wide and 4" deep at the apex - resulting in severe soggyage of the crotch and a tidal wave for anyone behind you)... as you exit the corner, and pull yourself back in from the lefthand side of the outfit, you jump but keep hold with your hands. This spins you nicely over the front so you're now laid across the outside of the front fairing. Voila. Instant rolling burnouts.
http://www.minimotosidecars.org/site/modules/coppermine/albums/userpics/kinshamrd805/3inacorner.jpg
L>R: Mike Mantell and Louise Hutt (F2), Si Ibbotson & Nobby (F1), Chris Bell & Myself (4T) coming 3 abreast thru the swooping left just before the home straight
http://www.minimotosidecars.org/site/modules/coppermine/albums/userpics/kinshamrd805/theyreoff.jpg
The home straight
And so the 2005 season ends.
F1 Champions: Gordon Martlew and Phil Mapplebeck (Souljacker over at O-CuK Forums)
F2 Champions: Mike Mantell and Louise Hutt
4T Champions: Richard Guest and myself
MMS Open Champions: Mike Mantell and Louise Hutt
Roll on March 2006 for the start of the next season!
Pix (more still to be uploaded) can be found over here: http://www.minimotosidecars.org/site/minimotosidecars.php?name=coppermine&file=thumbnails&album=30
The last round was held at Kinsham - home of Chas Davies (literally - the circuit is in his garden effectively) in Wales - tis a well-known Karting Circuit over here, and is getting demolished next year so this was the last time there for us.
As my Sidecar Pilot couldn't attend, and therefore neither could the Sidecar, I decided to prearrange a few rides on the competition.
I race in the 4stroke class on a CBR125 based engine. Nice n smooth when it comes to power delivery, and by no means the fastest outfit out on the track... but fastest of all the 4 strokes. I managed to blag me a ride on the fastest one there is. Mike Mantell's 2stroke RD80LC based outfit had managed to close the door on the F2 championship and MMS Open Championship by Round7, as had myself and Rich for the 4T championship, so it was logical for me to play with him for the first day - neither of us had anything to lose but auxilliary points.
I was expecting a harder time than I actually got from the engine. Drop off much more speed into the corner and then sharp snap of acceleration coming back out... this is normally the point where a passenger can lose the plot and end up sat on the apex watching the rear of the outfit disappear sideways off the track. Well, not the case fortunately. Managed to stay on without issue, but resulted in a LOT of pain. Why?
No 2 sidecars are the same. Handle position and foothold position / grip plates etc are all customised for the passenger. I think when it comes to passenger trays, our own outfit has more space than any other - handy as I think I'm one of the tallest passengers in the championship. EVERYONE ELSE however has comparatively short things, and the outfits I tried had no footholds at all or grip plates. I can now see why the other passengers complain about how hard it is.
Result? Different set of muscles.... and BOY do they hurt now. Our outfit is absolute BLISS in comparison. Hanging out for a lefthander is as comfy as a good armchair, and righthanders are as comfy as sprawling on yer bed.
So, morning practice came and went, and I left Mike with us holding 2nd fastest time overall. For afternoon qualifying I joined outfit 155 - Chris Bell. Chris is our main competition in the 4T Class, but his passenger was a no-show, so logically I jumped on board. Our championship was settled so he already had firm 2nd place... mainly did it just for tracktime. No point going racing and not racing after all is there?!
Chris' outfit is based on the MZ125 engine. A big hefty affair compared to the CBR125, but also infinitely more tunable via off-the-shelf performance addons. The added weight on right-handers, partnered with the added weight of me (being bgiger and taller than natalie, his usual passenger) resulted in us coming out of every righthander sideways. Lefthanders are always exited sideways, but right is a bit more rare...
It also didn't help that it was lashing it down and we were racing on cut slicks cos we couldn't be arsed changing over to wets... but hey-ho.
As it goes we were the only 4T outfit there, so we could more or less do what we wanted and just had fun. Became the mission to take every corner sideways, and contend with the back of the F1 and F2 classes... which we did with glee.
Sadly got dumped however. There are two hairpins sidebyside. A right hairpin straight into a left hairpin. We came charging thru the right with me well-planted on the back.... the outfit came out the apex sideways a bit further than anticipated and we looked to be heading wayward, so I bounced as hard as I could over the back wheel to dig it in and pivot.
Oops
It certainly did. Instinctively I went for the front left-hand grip, forgetting on this outfit that it was 2" further forward than on mine.... missed completely and went rolling down the track into the path of John Carver's F1 outfit (well swerved John!). Out the side of my visor I watched sparks and mud fly as the outfit and Chris went straight on instead of going left.... churning mud up as it landed over the castellated kerbs. I was unhurt.... however, discovered the main problem quickly. Due to new muscles being used, my legs had turned to jelly completely... imagine pins and needles in both feet, but having to run 100ft to yer sidecar!
Ended the day with a series of burnouts up the home straight... How does one do a burnout on a sidecar? Well, on this circuit, the homestraight comes directly after a big sweeping left hander (incidentally, with a puddle 10ft long, 3 ft wide and 4" deep at the apex - resulting in severe soggyage of the crotch and a tidal wave for anyone behind you)... as you exit the corner, and pull yourself back in from the lefthand side of the outfit, you jump but keep hold with your hands. This spins you nicely over the front so you're now laid across the outside of the front fairing. Voila. Instant rolling burnouts.
http://www.minimotosidecars.org/site/modules/coppermine/albums/userpics/kinshamrd805/3inacorner.jpg
L>R: Mike Mantell and Louise Hutt (F2), Si Ibbotson & Nobby (F1), Chris Bell & Myself (4T) coming 3 abreast thru the swooping left just before the home straight
http://www.minimotosidecars.org/site/modules/coppermine/albums/userpics/kinshamrd805/theyreoff.jpg
The home straight
And so the 2005 season ends.
F1 Champions: Gordon Martlew and Phil Mapplebeck (Souljacker over at O-CuK Forums)
F2 Champions: Mike Mantell and Louise Hutt
4T Champions: Richard Guest and myself
MMS Open Champions: Mike Mantell and Louise Hutt
Roll on March 2006 for the start of the next season!
Pix (more still to be uploaded) can be found over here: http://www.minimotosidecars.org/site/minimotosidecars.php?name=coppermine&file=thumbnails&album=30