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Grasstrack Sidecar Racing

Dan Crawford

Founder
UKAPS Team
Joined
21 Jun 2007
Messages
3,265
Location
Daventry, Northants
Hi everyone. This is my other hobby, i've been out of the game for a few years due to other financial commitments but i'm back on it again and loving it. For the past two weekends i've been racing over in Germany in the European Grasstrack Championships and although being plagued with engine, clutch and gearbox troubles we've been doing quite well.
Grasstrack sidecar racing is essentially the racing of 500cc bikes around an oval track varying between 500mtr and 1km. The sidecars can only turn left and it won't do that without a passenger (me). These highly tuned and specialist bikes reach up to and over 100mph with only two gears and no brakes :wideyed:
Racing over in the rest of Europe is a completely different ball game in terms of fans, preparation, scale, commitment and technology. "those guys do it right" if you know what i mean. It's fantastic to be invited (invitation only from the UK's best riders :oops: ) Next month, the weekend before the festival i'm off to Holland so that should be another change of scenery and no doubt a great experience. We have a brand new engine, gearbox and clutch for the holland meeting amounting to 5,300 euro so if any of you guys wanna sponsor an international Grasstrack and Speedway Race Team you know where i am :lol:
Here are some photos that i took, it's tough to get good ones due to the circumstances ie. the crown, wearing bodyarmour etc and the fact that they are flying towards you :lol: I obviously can't take photos of myself so here are some other folk.
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500 solo on practice day - Klien Clocksonburg
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500 sidecars on race day
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500 sidecars last week at Bad Hersfeld
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This is the bike
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Well, thats my other hobby. I'll keep it updated with any of the UK meeting incase any of you fancy popping down to watch if it's close to you.

Cheers

Dan
 
Hi Dan,

Good on Yer! anything with two wheels (or 3 :lol: ) floats my boat :D

Used to be a regular local thing, Sunday Car & Bike grass-track in a field near you, but nowdays seems to have faded away (insurance cover costs??), dam shame, some of the best racing to be seen!

Balls out, competition for the brave (best not mention F1 farce :oops: ).

Would say, keep it shinny side up, but with your outfit, I bet nothing is shiny at the end of the race! espechally if its wet :twisted:

Stay safe, Cheers, Mick B
 
SteveUK said:
That looks insane! I bet it's fun :D
Thats what I was going to say, looks like a lot of fun that, don't you get dizzy going round in circles hehehe ;)
 
the British championship finals are in Sunday at collier street, near tonbridge in Kent. Anyone in the area who fancies a day out would come along for what promises to be a pretty exciting day!
 
Good luck Dan! Looks like fun! Bit too far for me to pop down for the day I'm afraid mate but hope some others get down there.
 
Nice one Dan, I'm a two wheel freak @ weekends, I compete in Enduros which is basically Rallying on Dirtbikes, I compete @ British Championship level and even won the Welsh 2 Day enduro last year, 8 hours on Thursday and 7 hours on Friday in the most horrendous of conditions........
If I could suss how too post pics I would post some !!!!!!
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By jazzyjeff123, shot with Canon EOS 20D at 2008-09-21
 
JazzyJeff said:
Nice one Dan, I'm a two wheel freak @ weekends, I compete in Enduros which is basically Rallying on Dirtbikes, I compete @ British Championship level and even won the Welsh 2 Day enduro last year, 8 hours on Thursday and 7 hours on Friday in the most horrendous of conditions........
If I could suss how too post pics I would post some !!!!!!
Nice one, i remember chatting to you last year at the festival about it, i aint fit enough for all that LOL

I'm at "The Ledbury Leader" this Sunday at 11:00am - 5:00pm, Redcastle Farm, Much Cowarne near Hereford if anyone is at a loose end on Sunday. :D
 
Hey guys, Last week saw the Ledbury Leader in Hereford and good old John Starkey came along and by the looks of it had a great day! in fact i think his wife Ann had an even better day, she was glues to the racing :D

It was a good day, even with a blown engine in the first race (put a new engine in between races, all hands on deck!) we still managed a 1st,a 2nd and finished 3rd in the final.

Thanks for coming along John, happy times.
 
Hi Danny boy,we had a great day mate,cant wait for bewdley at the end of the month,regards john
 
JazzyJeff said:
Nice one Dan, I'm a two wheel freak @ weekends, I compete in Enduros which is basically Rallying on Dirtbikes, I compete @ British Championship level and even won the Welsh 2 Day enduro last year, 8 hours on Thursday and 7 hours on Friday in the most horrendous of conditions........
If I could suss how too post pics I would post some !!!!!!
croydon081ft9.jpg

By jazzyjeff123, shot with Canon EOS 20D at 2008-09-21

Nice one mate, im really into the idea of enduro racing. I guess it come about from watching the long way round and the Paris to Dakar program Charlie Borman did with that Steve guy.Also from when me and Dan where no taller than a midies willy, zipping round the local beaches. The idea of tearing up the country side on a dirt bike sounds ace, ide love to have a go at all that. Im sure its a costly business! Im interested in going to spectate and photograph some enduro events. Is there any places I can look at for callender dates around the UK?

Cheers.
 
Just a quick update on the Grasstrack scene.

You may have noticed that i've been quite quiet over the last couple of months? Well, i've decided to take up 1000cc sidecar racing. As a passenger i'm three times british champion on the 1000s but it's time to take the bars and have a go at riding.

The story goes that in 1999 my dad and I were three times British Sand Racing Champions until we had an accident at around 150mph and my dad broke both his legs and could no longer ride, given that his legs are pretty much just titanium now, it's a good idea!
This was us back then.....
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I took to the 500cc sidecars on the grass and passengerd for years. After one thing or another i ended up jumping on the back of a 1000 with the now British Champion as a favour " onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; we did very well and won almost all day. After that, i was hooked on the 1000s again. At Christmas i dragged out an old bike of ours and decided to get it race fit again. After what feels like an eternity, this is how it looks now.
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This is me ready for my first practice at Kings Lynn Speedway on Sunday....
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And this is us in action...
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About to get a right Royal spankin' by the current British Champion http://www.cossarmotorsport.co.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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I should be racing all over the country this year from Kent to Cornwall to Cumbria so if anyone is interested in coming along, gimme a shout and i'll try and get you in. I'll keep you up to date.

Cheers, Dan
 

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