Hamilton sidecar team eyes Australian series

FLYING KIWIS: Aaron Lovell and Dennis Simonsen riding the 225kg LCR which is capable of producing speeds of up to 280kmh. PHOTO / DOUG CORNES PHOTOGRAPHY

New Zealand's fastest sidecar is on its way to Sydney following a remarkable 12-day rebuild after a high-speed crash.

Hamiltonian Aaron Lovell's slick new Louis Christen Racing (LCR) bike from Switzerland went through two hay bales and two fences during a practice session at the Paeroa street race on February 16 but was in a container and destined for the upcoming Barry Sheen Memorial by February 28.

The crash was a reminder Lovell does not need about the dangers of sidecar racing.

He took up the sport when it killed his brother, so he knew the risks when he signed up.

"When he passed away me and my other brother got his sidecar going and did a bit of racing and I sort of carried on from there," Lovell said.

"There was a bit of disappointment from my parents, but we only live once."

Lovell and 'swinger' Dennis (Denny) Simonsen parted when Lovell took a decade off before reuniting last year due, in part, to the death of one of Lovell's friends.

"A mate of mine lost his fiancee four or five years ago. She had always wanted to have a go on a sidecar but he would never let her go on with anybody else. We were drinking one night and started talking about it - I got back into it for Wanganui's 60th anniversary, which was 2012. We were going to go down and watch and have a good time.

"I managed to get my old sidecar back, just borrowed it, then this LCR came up really cheap considering ... I said to myself I'd only get back into racing if it was on an LCR and it cost me nothing.

"Now I've got the LCR and it's pretty much cost me nothing with the sponsors on board."

The pair swept all before them during the most recent New Zealand series, including clean sweeps at the Barry Sheen Oceania Challenge and first leg of the Tri Suzuki Series at Hampton Downs, before losing the clutch on the line at Manfeild.

It was Wanganui which produced the biggest highlight.

"We went to Wanganui and just missed setting pole by point-nothing of a second, but won both races there and got the lap record, which was pretty special to me because that's where my brother got killed 23 years ago.

"That meeting meant quite a bit to me."

The New Year brought clean sweeps at Christchurch and Timaru before the hiccup at Paeroa necessitated repairs ahead of this month's Australian tilt.

The Australian series clashes with the final rounds of the New Zealand series, but Lovell says an Oceania title would look better on the resume than a national one.

Lovell and Simonson will compete at the Barry Sheene Festival of Speed at Sydney Motorsport Park (formerly Eastern Creek Raceway) from March 21-23.