@@fortytwo244 it was an exceptionally bad year at the TT, but it was 3 deaths of sidecar people and 2 solos. 2 were good friends, one my mentor. I won’t go into details of what happened but both sidecar accidents were in the same place, somewhere not known to have incidents.
This is like someone set out to design the most dangerous possible racing class they could come up with, because regular motorbike racing wasn’t bad enough
I did 6 laps round Mallory Park in the UK as a passenger on a 600cc.. After about 3 laps I had barely any grip left in my hands felt like I was falling off..i cannot begin to comprehend doing this on a 1000cc for 34 miles round the TT, inches from kerbs, walls, pubs, spectators etc 😅I would say it was about 3 times scarier than a 12000ft skydive.. Mad respect to these riders!
I'm sure the mallory laps were awesome !! The TT is limited to 600s, and not as physically demanding as a circuit per conrner, just long!! . Roads are less technical then circuits, but they are different disciplines. And like anything it's technique to learn, we all start out using the arms a lot, after a bit you figure out how to use your legs much more, how to conserve energy.
Did a few laps around Willow Springs on an old 1000cc F1 chassis, a couple on a modern 1000cc F1 (holy hell that was fast), and a race on an older 1200cc F1 chassis (probably similar to a modified 600cc in HP, just more torque). The old F2 was non stop work and a hell of a lot of fun. The fast F1 was not a lot of work, really. It was more just a matter of timing everything right (which as my first time out, I did wrong, surprise). The old F1 was somewhere in between. I might have some of those details wrong. It was a while ago. Only thing I remember was the fast F1 was running a GSXR 1000 engine turning about 200 HP. The other two were much, much slower 🤣
From an outside viewer who has never sidecar raced, this looks like the most skillful motor sport, not just the mechanics of the vehicle but also the teamwork. It’s very impressive.
I'd say both Isle of Men and Formula 1 are still at the pinnacle of motorsport because the results are literally determined by the drivers searching up their absolute limits with those machines and every little mistake at those speeds can be fatal
complex is the correct word, i guess you can say skill because skill of 2 people is more than skill of 1 person,but as individual people i think an f1 is more skill as you can only go so fast while relying on a passenger, and more speed needs more skill, but i do wonder whether the passenger can be replaced with a some well place fins that automatically angels in accordance to the turn, using advanced aerodynamics to stabilize the vehicle instead of weight redistribution
Shit looks so cool, especially with how small and low to the ground the cars are it looks a lot faster than a lot of more mainstream racing out there. Hats off to anyone who does this, badass
It’s good fun. We are slower than bikes overall, because we have more weight and aren’t stable, but it’s the only real Motorsport where both people control the vehicle to such a level
This and tandem road cycling, skii and enduro DH are the most Badass sports you can practice on the planet. My hat is off for anyone of you random RU-vidrs practices any of that. You have balls so massive they can't even fit in all the RU-vid servers.
Isle of man TT as a whole is just an incredible event rooted with history. By far the deadliest motorsports event on the planet. Would absolutely love to witness it in person one day.
It must be awesome to go for a lap as the passenger with a skilled driver. Beeing so close to the ground like that and throwing yourself around at over 160mph, man that must be some experience
It's also a really niche role that's open to really anybody who's fit enough to do the job. You can passenger at the highest levels of sidecar racing without having been racing Karts since you were 3.
When the mother only touched two of his fingers instead of the whole hand she was trying to get, I was so sad at her reaction after. She wished she could of touched him more. You can see the regret instantly sink... But you can't tell a man not go when he's already dressed like a power ranger and at the start finish line... Respect
that was so sad to see, first grabbing his hand then again she reaches out to him but she gave up , crossed her arms and you can see on her face and body talk that she did not like what her child is doing..
We all deal with it in different ways. Personally, it's not the time to think about that jest before the start, I'm more focussed.. though I always send a little message to my partner on my phone just before the start, somersetting written down.
He wasn't being rude, He's just "in the zone" and cant be brought out of it. If he got emotional with her, it would be a lot more distracting and dangerous for them. You have to stay very focused in serious sports like this
One massive thing you have missed out on is the fact that the passengers literally can't see where they are going because they are tucked in being aerodynamic and they learn the track by the feel of the outfit going round, how many bumps they hit before a certain corner etc....
Nah, we can see, we learn the track by looking around. But once memorised you then try and stay hidden when you can..for example, I am curled up looking at the foot of the driver, and when I see him start to brake I know that we are at the end of a straight and I can start getting into position for the corner. So we do try and limit exposure, but it depends on the corner, no need to worry about aerodynamics if it's a slow to medium speed corner, or while braking.
@@lenser.competition Thank you so much for your input. I saw your comments at the top of this section as well. It's interesting hearing it from the source to separate fact from fiction. But you can't stop us from thinking it's badass 😂.
My mums best friends husband crashed at the Isle of Man track during a sidecar race and both him and his partner were severely injured. Except the crash was caused by hitting a rabbit/hare
And now my son races against your mum's best friend's husbands sons, lol. Ryan and Callum are awesome and at the sharp end of an exciting new era in sidecar racing.
@@Sean-pm2vd have to agree with you on that. MotoGP has gravel traps, run off areas, and "air barriers". And braking points as well. The TT, those dudes are all full throttle 80(?) percent of the course. It's exciting to see, but SHEEEEEESH...👀
Remember footage of a TT sidecar in the wet over the crest into a village surrounded by stone on the limit of adhesion and Just caught it before a hard 90, then back up to the hills Still gives me the shivers
my uncle actually died due to an injury from sidecar racing when he fell off the sidecar in the race and hit his head knocking him unconscious sending him into a coma for a bit, when he woke up it was found out he had moto neuron disease and he ended up dying due to it, this was with a helmet as well, his name was colin knight
when i was a kid my uncle got in a motorcycle accident and had to use a wheelchair for the rest of his life but he liked riding so much he made a sidecar with all the controls in the sidecar and the passenger would sit on the bike that thing was a blast to ride on an as a kid
Not that many. They have an efficient emergency service, reinforced for the race period, but as soon as you can, you are sent of the island. A condition to race there, is a health insurance that has a specific level of repatriation coverage. But overall there are more injuries during the race week from tourists getting hurt than racing.
@@lenser.competition well the people of that Island deserve an excellent Health Care System.for leting these guys use their streets like this🙂 Not that you wouldn't agree
Can’t comprehend how this cars are able to take off that fast with the massive balls the drivers have. Here I thought motogp and rally racing was extreme but this is above and beyond!
Couple guys walked over to the go-kart track at Willow Springs Raceway where I (and a lot of friends) were racing minimoto. They said their "monkeys" had to cancel on them, and would any of us be willing to fill in? I was one of them that filled in. Had a total blast that day. Lots of fun. Willow Springs is much safer than the IoMTT, but we were in the 180+ range in the back section (through T7 and T8). Got a test ride on the actual fast rig there that weekend, with about an extra 50 HP compared to what I was helping on, plus a car better chassis and aero. That was going about 200 MPH. But that driver was more picky about his monkey and didn't elect me for the race later in the day (I was only a little offended 🤣). I think we finished last, but, it was a lot of fun. Almost fell off once coming out of T9, but a perfectly timed shift let me fix my grip and then all was good.
I had a hotwheel car of one of these as a child. Prior to having it I never seen one of these before and thought it was some kind of futuristic concept bike that couldn't possibly work functionally
Oh man...so tragic to hear about the Father & Son duo in the recent TT! May their acheivements be remembered & they RIP immortalized among the TT greats.
As a percentage of active participants...no. Are there 1,000 people who do this in the world? Maybe more football players or boxers die, but there are 100s of thousands who play those sports.
It is fascinating racing, especially the vintage ones. To clarify her initial assertion, though, it's less that the passenger moves to steer the bike, and more the passenger keeps it from flipping when the pilot steers. She does allude to this later, but couldn't resist pointing this out.
Never seen this! Fn insane. It resembles MotoGP but way scarier. That is a crazy trust relationship. It’s gotta be a fringe spot because of the danger. I’d love to see it regularly televised.
I'm a normally "let people do their thing" guy but this gives me second thoughts I get scared going 110mph in my car on the highway, 160mph in that thing...hanging on is terrifying
Cool didn't know this was a thing. I saw an ad for a "sidecar" racing event coming up & 1st thing that popped into mind was those old school sidecars. I might just go to the race & check it out
Completely agree with Eric Ledebile… I’ve done 3 Isle of Man TT’s as a passenger - Winning 2 bronze replicas so fairly educated to comment here. There’s a lot of preparation that goes in as well as physical training, dieting and practice which is done in the run up to the TT. Funnily enough the TT is physically quiet easy.. (always gets an eye brow raise that one) … The hard bit is learning your way round whilst not looking… keeping out the wind is king at the TT. Being in the right place at the right time, not forcing it and moving with the bike, flowing. Either way good video as an insight 👍👍
I can remember watching this style of racing back in the late 80's/early 90's. Seem like, my recollection, the sidecar passenger leaning out even further during left turns. Almost putting their shoulder down to the pavement.
