The 30th April took me to Teeside Autodrome, in Middlesborough, for my first experience in a Sidecar with Greg Lambert Sidecar School. With the sun shining all day, and mild conditions, the weather couldn’t have been better for it. I was joined by Ged Hall, a former sidecar passenger himself who was now learning to drive a sidecar outfit, and Robin King, an experienced motorcycle road racer on his 2nd day of passenger training.
Greg Lambert Racing
Kenneth Lambert driving with Greg as passenger.
Just like everyone who’s ever seen Sidecar racing (well maybe not everyone!), from the moment an outfit shot past me at 160+ mph the thought that crossed my mind was ‘this is amazing’ and ‘I want to try that!’
For some people their immediate thought is ‘I want to race one of those’, but for Greg Lambert his first thought at the age of 10 when his father and former sidecar partner, Kenneth Lambert, took him over to the Isle of Man to watch the TT for the first time, was ‘I want to win at that’ and has since spent the last 36 years racing sidecars. Firstly with his father Kenneth, who was the driver and Greg in the passenger seat, then Greg took over from his father as driver, and as owner of the sidecar outfit, in order to learn new skills in 1989–90.
Greg Lambert (driver) and Andrew Haynes (passenger) at IoM TT 2024.
Over the 35 years Greg has had numerous passengers, male and female, with Andrew Haynes, otherwise known as ‘The racing preacher’, coming on board as passenger in 2023. In this time Greg has achieved several Isle of Man rostrums, numerous championship wins, and road race championships. Also being highly successful in formula 1 sidecar racing, both in the UK and abroad.
Greg Lambert (left) and Andrew Haynes (right), IoM TT 2024.
Sidecar School
L-R: Greg Lambert, Robin King, me, and Ged Hall.
In 2022 Greg setup the Greg Lambert Sidecar school, to find, develop and support the next generation of sidecar passengers and drivers, and to give sponsors, businesses, and individuals, the opportunity to experience what it is to be a sidecar racer, and on 30th April 2024 I finally decided to have a go myself at this exhilarating sport.
If I thought watching sidecars race was exciting, then actually being the passenger in one is mind-blowing, and it is possibly both the most exciting, and terrifying, thing I have ever done in my life. But then that’s why it attracts adrenaline junkies because sidecar racing is nothing if not an extreme sport, where the passenger is gripping to the sidecar going upwards of 100mph and using their body to swiftly glide left and right with the outfit as it corners, to balance and enable the driver to commit to the twists and turns in a race, and improve the overall handling and speed. In some instances enabling the 3rd wheel to stay planted on the circuit so the entire vehicle doesn’t flip, or spin out of control.
Greg started by briefing the group on rules and safety, then explained how the day would go and, most importantly, how we would go from sitting passenger to being able to move with the sidecar to distribute the weight effectively for high speed racing.
There are two types of racing sidecar, Formula 1 and Formula 2, the outfit we would be using would be Formula 2 (or F2) and is most commonly used in closed road racing such as the Isle of Man TT, while the F1 outfit is most commonly used in closed circuit racing such as the British Sidecar Championships at race tracks such as Cadwell Park, Knockhill, and Donington Park.
I’d been fascinated by Sidecar racing since seeing them at the 2002 Isle of Man TT. When I saw Greg had setup his own sidecar school I jumped at the chance to have a go! Greg has been at every TT for the last 32 years, starting out with his Dad, Kenneth Lambert, in 1988 on their first ever outing as complete novices, piloting their Derek Rumble 650cc BSA sidecar at Knockhill Circuit in Scotland, just missing out on their first trophy at their first meeting, and coming third in their first year’s championship, is nothing short of brilliant. Since then achieving Grand Prix results, Formula 1 championship winners, formula two road race championship winners, Isle of Man Southern 100 record holders and winners, numerous club championship winners — current, and also podiums at the road racing capital of the world, the Isle of Man TT.
First out was Ged, already an experienced sidecar passenger who started racing formula 2 outfits back when most of the field ran 2 stroke 350TZ engines, so when Greg asked him if he wanted to have a go at driving he found it hard to say no.
Ged driving with Greg in the passenger seat.
He’d already spent the previous day getting to grips with the controls so by day two he’d started to speed things up, while Greg passengered. Initially, he thought taking on driving would go one of two ways, he’d love it, or he wouldn’t get on with driving as much and that would be the end of that. It went well, very well, and he came away thinking how could he get back into competing in the sport, how could he make his own sidecar, or afford to buy one! Which can be done, and Greg Lambert Sidecar school is a direct route into learning how to passenger and drive and reach a level to enable you to take part in races; funnelling new talent into the sport from a wide range of backgrounds.
Next up was me. Greg had given me the breakdown of how I would learn the complex moves a sidecar passenger needs to make to keep the outfit balanced during racing, and to start out I was just to sit in the car holding onto the grabrails on either side of the rear wheel. Once I’d done a few laps seated, it was then learning to lean over the righthand and lefthand sides.
Leaning over the righthand side.
Leaning right was far more precarious. Your bum is higher up in the air than your head, and it’s not easy to look up and see where you’re going at speed while turning right, but most of all make sure you don’t have a full stomach as I did which won’t help things! To maintain an effective right turn position you need to hold on to the grabrails either side of the rear wheel and let your body reach as far over as your left arm will let you go, then lock both legs against the two footrests in the passenger seat.
Leaning out to the left.
I found going out on the lefthand side a lot easier and more natural, although had I not started on the right, the hardest position for me I found, it may not have been as comfortable but I settled into it straight away. In this position you sit on the lefthand side of the passenger seat and hold on to the handlebars on the front and right of the seat and stretch yourself from your feet to your bum as far back as your arms will let you go. You don’t lean back with your head! That stays tucked in, for airflow mostly, but also so you don’t lose it on a wall or get pulled off the sidecar by the wind at 100+mph.
Robin followed next, who already had a day on me so had advanced further along the course, and by the end of the day he had developed the taut posture and balance needed to move smoothly from left to right and right to left across the passenger seat, preparing well in time for the next corner.
Robin leaning over the right through the chicane.
Robin leaning out left.
The key to being a sidecar passenger is being relaxed. Something you might think difficult to do at speeds averaging upwards of 100 miles an hour while trying to stay inside a seat with nothing keeping you from falling out the back save for something to hold on to and to breach your feet against.
You find out pretty quickly, as Robin and I did on our first days as passengers, that holding on tightly causes something called arm pump which is when the muscles are too tight for blood to pump through them and this causes pain and fatigue, and eventually a lack of strength to hold on. The key is in a strong grip and relaxed limbs so that a) you move with the outfit, and b) you’re less likely to be thrown off as energy will be flowing through you if you remain relaxed, whereas tightening will make it easier for the energy to throw you further, and potentially off the sidecar.
All these skills are taught and achievable and you can choose to take several days to gradually develop your abilities and confidence throughout the day. I felt very comfortable with Greg’s instruction and had 100% confidence in him to guide me through the various steps of sidecar passengering, and completely trusted in his driving as a highly experienced racer. This made it very easy to then simply focus on the simple and easy to understand instructions I was given, and I was able to learn the basics of passengering.
While I may not become a racer, I’ll be sure to head back to Middlesborough for another go at sidecars, if only to keep challenging myself and engaging in a sport I love watching others do; all in all a thrilling experience not to be missed out on!
To get in touch with Greg Lambert .for either sponsorship, experience, or development opportunities email greg_lambert_racing@yahoo.com or phone +44 7899 261 614, Facebook.
Copyright and all rights reserved by Petra Saxby.
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