The ability to drive a sports stroller: professional advice

Almost 200 horsepower per 315 kilograms

How to go fast with a fundamentally unstable thing based on Hayabusa

stroller, what a beautiful car for a relaxing walk with family or friends! Den has come across these particular cars many times, in particular giving driving advice and presenting a comparison of two atypical cars, the Triumph Scrambler CS Concept and the Ural Ranger 2WD, made on the tracks of Morocco. Two perfect gazelle hunting machines.

But the gazelle is fine for five minutes, because the stroller can also be used for hunting chronos: because the person is made in such a way that he always tries to go further and especially faster. And it was in order to understand how to drive a sports stroller, which Le Remort went to spend the day at the Vaison Piste (71), organized by the Central Team, which is no less than the 2015 French road rally champion Alain Ambard, as well as the champion France Road Rally 2016 Norbert Jacob accompanied by other amateurs. Ideal for gathering professional advice.

186 horses on a wheel ...

If there is no miraculous recipe, the coincidences are sometimes significant: this is how the three sports stroller owners met today, building a party at the Suzuki Hayabusa base. And everyone agrees: "This is a rugged motor with torque and extension and you can pull it into it without breaking." Hayabusa Alain Amblard, well tuned and slightly optimized, takes 186 horsepower. Good weight-to-power ratio for a car that weighs only 315 kilograms with a full tank.

As we know, one of the keys to driving a stroller is the center of gravity: the higher it is, the less stable, and I can already guarantee that between the Ural Ranger (positioned on 19-inch wheels) and the Ural tourist (positioned at 18) there is already sacred driving differences.

Here we are obviously in a much more radical register. Our machines give the impression of being placed on the ground.

Including Alena Ambard's red Hayabusa with 13 "wheels: it's better for the center of gravity," he says, and then I chose the narrow 175/60 ​​tires, which are an advantage in the rain. " Others are then asked why they are on 15-inch wheels: "to be able to put in big brake discs," says Norbert Jacob, to which Alain Amblard responds with a large eccentric disc brake while Norbert put in a large scoop to direct fresh air to the center of its rim.

As we can see, everyone develops their side a little in accordance with their sensitivity. However, one thing in common: center of gravity and mass balancing. This is why the fuel tank is often in the basket, as is the battery and exhaust muffler. The rear shell of the "motorcycle" is as low as possible, and the saddle is really just a piece of foam. When I'm surprised, Alain Amblard rightly replies, "Well, it's the same on racing bikes." Comfort is overrated.

Do you like centrifuges?

Well, enough colloquial rags. Happy fatal, Norbert Jacob didn't have a monkey in the morning. A great opportunity for Den to jump into the basket. And to get your face centrifuged! So I stuck with it.

Because the basics of wheelchair driving are found on these military vehicles: applying the brakes helps to turn left, and it is advisable to keep the throttle trickle and have the steering energized, with a well-stretched outer elbow, right turns. So anyone who knows how to handle the sidewall will find their bearings. At least as long as the pace is calm.

What a change is taking place in violence! Because even when weighing in, Hayabusa pushes straight and turns literally jump in your face, especially on a small track like Vaison Piste that doesn't offer time to rest.

If you only need to remember one rule, it is this: There is a bar on the front of the basket. This is the bar for survival. Never let her go. Never. And I will quickly discover that over the course of several laps, this little piece of metal will be my only horizon of comfort, my only connection to life.

Because there is a gap from theory to practice. The theory is simple: take out the body to the right, place yourself on the rear wheel, behind the pilot, to the left. Reality brings another dimension to this beautiful presentation: gravity. At Vayson, the entrance to turn 4, called "La Cuvette", is an ascent to the left that follows two right turns, the previous one, "Le Vélo", is actually quite long. But from the "Bicycle" the pilot knocked out the throttle and rushed to the left. In addition, it is a lifting bowl that packs the machine. Everything is simple here: if you miss pulse to change position (and with 186 hp it's easy to miss), you're just crushed by the centrifugal force exploding in the side at the bottom right when you should already be on the rear wheel.

For his part, the pilot is at full throttle (which is his job at the same time) and obviously he didn't see you in trouble. As a result, the side is not weighed to the left, so it will start to slip, which the pilot compensates for by hitting the rudder and pushing the large throttle back. And you, there, a simple soul and in ruin at the bottom of the basket, have just understood the new meaning of the word "digging." And now I will now have a little pinch in my heart by running a new laundry.

Feeling question

Where the amateur is beaten corner by corner and after 4 laps, begins to rinse, no longer breathe or hands and systematically finds himself out of the corner step (not recommended for the stability of the whole), a professional who deserves a lot of respect reveals his technique. Arrived in the afternoon, after the triathlon (and then they tell you that this does not require any special conditions), Frank Bacon, Norbert Jacob's "monkey" and therefore also the champion of France (and this is more than deserved, since everyone tells you that a good passenger accounts for at least 60% of the total productivity), explains his role.

“The key is to be able to anticipate,” he says, “to be able to read the road and always be well placed at the right time. And for this to be the least physical, you must use the momentum of the side to help you change position and not have this energy against you. Thus, you must know your driver well, read the road, understand the sensations and operation of the car. "

Okay, that's understandable. But how do you read the road, in left turns, when your only horizon is a piece of tire and buttocks (of course, capture!) Norbert Jacob? But as? This certainly sets the leek apart from the pro. In short, I experienced it in terms of lateral suffering, added a layer to it and understood its role in terms of effectiveness at both levels. Because a professional monkey can also help its driver by being able to move forward or backward, optimize traction or braking stability, and also, from the side, how to forcefully descend from the side to help turn without shifting the traction. All this in the rally especially, with trees and low walls a few centimeters from the helmet. And all this, too, is constantly shaking. Respect, to be honest!

The detail that kills? Frank is equipped with a karting vest that protects his ribs. With the obvious simplicity of speech, this shows how she beats inside.

And on the steering wheel?

Busy with doing my best to drop to the bottom of the basket, I didn't have too much time to see the pilot working on the rudder. And so it was only natural that I asked them a question. And it was with the same naturalness that they all suggested that I take control of their car (note: don't forget to go to Rossi to ask him how his lifter works, to see if he has the same reflexes). With a lot of experience in the classic stroller, but zero in the sports part, there is little to say that I was curious!

What impresses the most: cheerfulness and low roll. Compared to the side of the road, we enter to the right, turning much faster without a slight pinching in the heart of the feeling that the car will stop and that it will quickly become difficult to control. And when the wheel rises, the high rigidity of the assembly means that the car remains in control and that the feedback provided to the driver is excellent. What is also noticeable is the high braking resistance thanks to the connected system. On the other hand, the sides tend to head left in full acceleration and even more than Alain Umblard's than Norbert Jacob's. “It's because you don't ride it properly,” Alain tells me. "We have to go home faster, hold him back and carry him." I had to think about it ...

It is at this stage that the Chanals enter the scene. They are not yet (not yet?) French Road Rally Champion, but after testing the discipline this year, they will compete in the entire championship in 2017. Chanals is a beautiful story of father and son. This summer they ride together (they went on vacation with their orange Hayabusa with a Yamaha FZR head), they rally together and they are interchangeable, dividing the bars and basket according to your wishes. Their bike is more about sports tourism than competition: it's mounted a little more flexible and the steering is less heavy, but at my small level, I didn't find it less efficient than others.

In any case, driving a sports stroller on the track remains completely physical, especially in the back of the track and its series of turns to the right, which give you some hands when you definitely have to brake hard and throw in the last right!

Real moments of poetry

In both cases, living this experience in a wheelchair generates wonderful poetry moments. I liked the handlebars in turn 11, the left tightly at the end of a straight line of pits: throwing on the rope with such a precise direction, feeling the passenger clinging behind the back, accelerating early skating on the rear tire under 186 horsepower, wide when exiting and feeling side shifting the asphalt, regaining traction, forcing the handlebars to keep to its trajectory, climbing up on the third of the derailleur, before darting into the bang-bang, which it will approach without twisting, what leg!

And in the basket, in long turns to the right, pull out the upper body, the horizon is distorted, a piece of tire and a track scrolling in sight, nostrils less than a meter from the exhaust, physically feel the chassis work (nothing less than normal, since your back lies on the back sleeping spot), feel the loss of grip and lift of the basket wheel, even a few millimeters, feel my new Bering Supra-R combo rub against the tire (so it's baptized!), what a blessing!

Athletic side, state of mind full of generosity

On the steering wheel, like in a basket, it takes a real physical condition to drive these cars according to the scheme. But Alain and Norbert assure us that Road Rally is easier, even if in a special edition they set timers that put them in the top 10, and Alain Amblard has already been timed over 200 km / h between trees and bumps.

But wheelchair operators also display a simplicity and generosity that only matches their commitment to handlebars. You know many groups from whom you ask for advice and explanations, and which in a few minutes will leave you the rudders "so that you can realize for yourself."

The table cart is a big family, and our competitors and champions of the day have already practiced it on the road and in their free time, many years before they came to play the competitive game. “Since I was 8 years old, I have been in a stroller with my dad in his 1000 Guzzi Jewel,” says Cesar Chanal. "When I was able to take the wheel, I already knew how it worked."

In short, with a sports sidecar, the motorcycle fan is sure to discover new horizons and new sensations! A full Hayabusa-based hitch currently costs between 35 and 000 euros, including motorcycles. But when you love, you don't count!