[Jeff Higgins]

As far as I know, only one fatality so far, Dan Ingham. Some serious injuries, though, with a couple of sidecar crashes and a couple of solo crashes.

The sidecar thing is rather complicated. This has been building for years. They have essentially gotten too fast for their current level of engineering and aero sophistication which is, actually, surprisingly low.

These sidecar "rigs" are, for the most part, entirely home made by their respective teams. They build what looks and feels right, drawing on the experiences of others and their own best guesses. There is no real engineering analysis performed nor, most importantly, aero analysis or testing. They have no access to the engineering expertise nor the aero expertise they need to ensure structural suitability for the loads being applied through their chassis, nor the aerodynamic viability of these machines at speed.

Remember when Unlimited Hydroplanes use to kite up and flip over backwards many years ago? As speeds went up, their understanding of the aerodynamic forces at play did not. That is exactly the point in development the sidecars have reached today. Every major wreck has been because the rig "kited" up in the air.

They understand that they need to get a handle on why and, more importantly, what to do about it. It makes no sense to keep racing, knowing it will continue to happen. So they are taking a step back. They will likely wind up seeking some form of "adult supervision" - sidecar teams pooling resources to bring in some aero expertise to the benefit of all. Analyze the problem, explore solutions, and develop some design standards that they can all follow. Until then, they just won't be racing sidecars. There is an inherent problem with them that they can no longer ignore.