Whitney Brothers Racing Team
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Whitney Brothers Racing Team History 1970-1999 Four-time Pikes Peak Hill Climb Champions ------ Three-time American Sidecar Motocross Champions Pete Whitney & Scott Whitney Whitney Family History, and Racing Achievements The history of sports in the Whitney family began when father Ralph competed in the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo on the Water- Polo team. After the 1964 Olympics, Ralph started racing motorcycles. He progressed to sidecar racing in the early 1970's. At different times during the 1970's he raced with each of his four sons, Tom, Pete, Eric, and finally Scott. Ralph and Scott traveled to Europe in 1979 to race five races in the European Sidecar Championships (see photo below). 1964 U.S. Olympic Water-Polo team They went on to Ralph (Lower-Right) become the American Sidecar Champions in 1980 (a great achievement for a father and son team). At this time Tom and Pete were racing together as a team on a sidecar they built themselves. Tom and Scott had a dream of building their own motocross sidecar based on a Harley-Davidson engine. While Scott was in college (studying engineering), they joined up to design and built that sidecar (see photos below). Soon they began racing together, and went on to Ralph and Scott at Wohlen-Switzerland (1979) win the American Sidecar Championship in 1982 on this All-American bike. The beginning of a Harley-Davidson MX Sidecar The Whitney’s race-ready Harley-Davidson MX Sidecar (1982) Partial assembly When Tom retired from racing in 1983, Pete and Scott started racing together. Pete drives, and Scott passengers. They raced a Yamaha XS650 based sidecar for two years. In 1985 Scott and Ralph traveled to Europe to see the latest in sidecar technology. Two-stroke 500cc engines were just beginning to be competitive against the giant 1000cc four-stroke bikes. Realizing that this was the future for the sport, they brought back six Honda CR500 based sidecars to sell to fellow American racers. Pete and Scott were the first Americans to race the new CR500 sidecar. They won their first race on this bike and went on to win the American National Championship. Two more National Championship titles followed. They continue to be one of the top teams in America. Pete : Driver, Scott : Passenger Since switching to a Honda in 1985, they have finished all but one race; (injury put them out of this one race). From mid-1985 to mid-1999 they started in 124 races, winning 72 times, and taking second place 28 times. That’s a 58% win average over 14 years. In 1997 they revived and rebuilt their Harley rig for competition in the historic Pikes Peak Hill Climb. They won the event in 1998 with a record breaking time, and repeated in 1999 with another record time. In each of these winning years they were over half a minute ahead of the second place finishers. In 1999 they also entered the popular Adelanto Grand Prix off-road race with their Harley sidecar and took first place, edging out all the modern Winning at Pikes Peak off-road sidecars. As a team, Pete and Scott have a very strong motivation to win, and take an innovative, mature, and aggressive approach to their racing. They are well respected among their racing peers, and always work hard to present a professional image on the track as well as off. Pete and Scott love the jumps Winning at Carlsbad What is Sidecar Motocross Sidecar motocross is very similar to regular motocross but with a different type of motorcycle chassis, and with a team of two people riding together instead of one. Several sidecar manufacturers in Europe make special a chassis which will accept the engine, wheels, plastics, and other components from commonly available big- bore motocross bikes such as the Honda CR500, Kawasaki KX500, and 550 KTM. There are also specialized engines such as the 685cc Zabel, which are made just for Sidecar Motocross. The sidecar shown at right is an EML chassis (made in Belgium) with CR500 components. This is the type of bike we currently race, in addition to our custom Harley. Racing is done on the same outdoor motocross tracks as regular motocross. Sidecars can handle rough terrain including bumps, turns, hills, mud, and jumps. Pete and I even do double jumps! (See photo to the right) The driver handles the bike similar to a regular motocross bike, except the bike doesn't lean to the side in turns. The job of the passenger is to move his weight around to help go faster in turns and jumps. The passenger does much more work than the driver since he moves his whole body around continuously. Excellent physical conditioning is required for both the driver and passenger. One of the most important aspects of sidecar racing is teamwork. The best sidecar teams in the world have been racing together for many years, and work well as a team. Sidecar motocross is a small sport in America, but it's very big in Europe. A World Sidecar Motocross Grand Prix draws more spectators than the average 125cc Motocross World Championship GP. The photo to the right is from a Sidecar GP in Austria. Pete and Scott’s career background Pete's background is primarily in construction. He works as an inspector for the Ventura County (California) Flood Control District. Pete always has a winning attitude, on and off the track. Pete has been racing for over 27 years, and has been a sidecar "driver" for 16 years, having moved over from passengering in his younger days. In this type of racing, teamwork, experience, Pete Whitney skill, and physical conditioning all play important roles. Pete is top-notch in all areas. In 1985 Scott obtained his Degree in Electronics Engineering. During his college years he worked summers as a technician at a computer company and also at S&W Engineered Products (an after-market motorcycle shock absorber manufacturer). These jobs gave him a good working background in the fields of computer technology and motorcycle suspension. After college, he went to work at TRW (an aerospace company) as an Electronics Engineer working on spacecraft systems. He designed electronic circuits, computer systems, and computer software for NASA scientific spacecraft, secret spy spacecraft, and other high-technology projects. In 1993 he left TRW and went into business for himself as an Scott Whitney engineering consultant. He now performs electronics design and computer programming for various clients. In his spare time he created and maintains the popular SidecarCross.com web site, the definitive home of sidecar motocross racing on the Internet. .