LCR F2 Racing Sidecar
In 2006 LCR expanded into the Formula 2 sidecar class, supplying sidecars for the Isle of Man TT, including the one campaigned by Manxmen Nick Crowe and Daniel Sayle that set a new lap record. 2007 Nick Crowe/ Dan Sayle won the Southern 100 (Isle of Man).
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Isle of Man
Startno 8: Laidlow/Farrance
The F2 Sidecars are very popular in the UK. Since 20 years only F2 Sidecars are allowed to start at the Isle of Man race because the organisers thought F1 sidecars to be too dangerous. In this time I had several customers, who successfully participated at the TT with LCR-F1 sidecars.
John Holden/Andrew Winkle LCR-Suzuki
The first LCR F1 at the Isle of Man was Team Holzer/Meierhans in the year 1978 and finished all predictions despite their race. This former sidecar had already a monocoque.
This design probably didn't look very solid, but it had unquestionably very high stability, what was also demonstrated on the TT.
Isle of Man
Klaffenböck/Parzer
2005 former Sidecarworldchampion Klaus Klaffenböck asked me if I would have interest to build him a TT-competitive F2-sidecar. Klaus Klaffenböck (although he is a Superbike-teamboss and has enough to do) is still very interested in the sidecar sport. After various reflections I decided to start this project. Key reasons: The F2 sidecars with 600ccm series engines are not only for professionals riders with a lot of experience, F2 sidecars are also ideal for beginners. The F2-sidecars are ca. 30% to 50% cheaper than the F1-sidecars with 1000ccm. Technically, less sophisticated, easy in maintenance. In England are more than 100 F2-teams. A disadvantage of the F2-class was surely that there are not so many professional producers involved, and therefore often the teams needed to build their sidecars by themselves.
LCR Factory
Roger Welti, Louis Christen and Andy Laidlow.Laidlow returned on the Isle of Man in 2006 after a two year absence but it never showed and he was on the pace immediately. Driving the all-new LCR, the Cumbrian driver and his young passenger Farrance cracked the 110mph mark for the first time and just missed out on a podium in both legs. Laidlow is yet another driver who is more than capable of stepping on to the rostrum.
The aim of my F2-commitment was to show that such vehicles can have a future especially also on the continent if they have a number of technical innovations combined with attractive design. To receive as much as possible F2 knowledge we worked together with Team Klaffenböck/Parzer and also with the Team Laidlow/Farrance because the British pairing have a lot of F2 experience. The LCR F2 construction adheres exactly to the existing technical regulations, but has some distinct advantages over the existing F2s: The chassis is divided into sections which are screwed together: in case of a damage and accident this guarantees a fast and inexpensive fix.
Frontwheel
Rear arm, sidecarwheel arm and engine parts are screwed by milled aluminium parts, which gives much flexibility in geometry and choice of engine. The frontwheel has a completely new brake system and can therefore be easily and quickly be changed. Because I know that involvement of the passenger is very important, I tried the whole area, where he moves, to design in the best way. The F2-fairing is like the F1-fairing made in one piece, the seat is integrated in the cockpit area, which is a clear visual appreciation of the F2-sidecar.
LCR F2-Kumano @ Isle of Man
Masahito Watanabe, Hideyuki Yoshida
Of course, I hope that the above considerations prove to be correct, and the F2-sidecars will become more popular and will become a better entrance for beginners in the sidecar-sport. The most successful sidecar-driver of all time, Steve Webster is also convinced of this idea and sells our LCR products in England and supports the teams with his knowledge.
LCR F2 Deutscher Text hier anklicken...
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LCR F2 without fairing
LCR F2-Teams
- www.klaffi.at
- http://www.f2sidecar.com/ Nick Crowe
- http://www.tt-sidecar-challenge.jp/
- www.kershawracing.co.uk/