A blown engine at the world sidecar championships at Gillman, Australia recently cost father and son sidecar combination Derek and Matthew Ramsay a podium placing against 16 of the fastest riders from around the world.
The sidecars have no brakes, which makes it exciting for spectators to watch, with the swinger influencing 50 per cent of the control of the machine.
The pair left New Zealand as holders of NZ1 after winning the New Zealand sidecar championships held at Whanganui. They were rolled and the combination flipped right over. The race was red flagged, the bike uprighted and they won the race and the championship.
"This may have caused damage to the engine," said Derek.
Travelling straight away to Australia for the Worlds on April 8, the pair got to ride the day before in practice with the engine that had been rolled. It had 26 more horsepower than the engine they used at the worlds last year in their first attempt.