Talented Eden-based sidecar siblings Jack and Sam Laidlow are turning heads across the sport by leading the British championship in their debut season.
Brothers Jack, aged 21, and 18-year-old Sam, first rode motorbikes on fields around their Dufton farm smallholding near Appleby.
They have since followed their dad Andy — a former British F2 champion, multiple Scottish title winner and European runner-up — into sidecar racing and achieved eye-catching results.
Boris Stroud, of Marin Motorsports, gave driver Sam and passenger Jack their first shot in the unique three-wheeled sporting machinery. They first competed on a borrowed bike in 2022.
They have since progressed to a Formula 1 grand prix bike, showing early promise when invited into the British championship last year.
With sponsorship in place this year, they are competing in the British Championship and have been given an entry into the world championship with top 10s already at Le Mans, in Germany and the Czech Republic.
The rookies’ British results so far have been spectacular. They have led the title standings since round one at Pembrey in Wales and currently have a 12-point advantage.
At Scotland’s Knock-hill a fortnight ago, they became the first team in 2024 to clinch a weekend double win in wet conditions which suited them down to the ground in a lesser-powered, 20-year-old bike which finds the going slightly tougher on faster tracks.
There are three rounds of the British championship remaining: at Snetterton next weekend before outings at Cadwell Park and Brands Hatch.
“This is their first year at this level and they have really made their presence felt with a string of podium finishes, including three top steps (wins),” said Andy.
“It has absolutely gob-smacked everybody in sidecar racing, as well as ourselves. We never expected things to happen so quickly.
“I think it’s phenomenal. They’re really calm, collected and mature for their age. They just both seem to gel together and have a mass of finesse and smoothness. They are the youngest team on the (British) grid and the youngest to ever start a world championship race.
“People have commented that it almost looks like they’ve been doing it for the last 30 years. It just seems to come naturally to them.
“The current leader of the world championship, and previous world champions in the UK, have been helping the lads. Everybody is blown away by them. They’re shocking people everywhere they go. They just need to keep it up.
“It would be nice to think they could try and win the British championship at the first time of asking. But it’s a long hill to climb and if they don’t win it this year they’ve certainly given it a good shot.”
So what experience has their decorated dad been able to pass on?
“They just seem fairly natural when they’re out there,” he says. “All I can do is get the bike set up with the experience I’ve got. They haven’t needed a lot of coaching. Just a bit of guidance with tyre choices and tyre wear; simple things that you can only pass on through experience. As far as track knowledge, lines and race craft goes, they just seem to have plucked that out of thin air, somehow!
“We work on the bike together. The lads are amazing with the mechanics. All I do is suggest stuff and they decide whether they want to do it or not. I’m more nervous for them in case the machinery lets them down because I’m more involved in that.”
Andy is married to Kirsten and they have a daughter, Katie, aged 17, who also helps with race weekend pit work.
