Stuart Brown (born 29 June 1972)[1] is a British sidecarcross rider. Internationally, his greatest success has been two third place overall finishes (FIM Bronze Medal), achieved in the 2014 Sidecarcross World Championship and 2016 Sidecarcross World Championship. Domestically he has won a record fourteen national British Sidecarcross Championships.[2]
| Stuart Brown | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | British | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 29 June 1972 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bike number | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | Official website | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Racing career
editBritish Championship
editStuart Brown started racing in the British Championship with passenger Luke Peters in 1996, entering the Sidecarcross World Championship in the following year. After an eighth place in their inaugural domestic season the pair improved gradually, finishing runners-up in Britain in 2000 and 2001. After the retirement of ten-time champions Chris Etheridge in 2001 the pair won their first national title in 2002 and repeated this achievement in 2003.[1][2]
In late 2004 and 2005 Brown raced with Jason Peters and, in 2005, also with Marc Cooper, as Luke Peters was recovering from a broken leg. In both seasons he won the British Championship. In 2006 he won his fifth national title, now with Luke Peters again.[1][3]
Brown and Peters missed most of the 2007 season because of a hand injury for Brown, unable to defend their national title. The pair took out three more British titles in 2008, 2009 and 2010 before Brown switched passengers. Now with Josh Chamberlain as his passenger Brown won six more national titles from 2011 to 2016.[1][3] By winning his eleventh British national title in 2013 Brown set a new national record, surpassing the ten titles won by Chris Etheridge between 1991 and 2001.[4]
In 2017 Brown will defend his British title, partnered by Joe Millard.
World Championship
editEntering the Sidecarcross World Championship from 1997 onwards Brown and Peters competed only sporadically for the first five seasons, never finishing higher than 20th overall. From 2002 onwards their fortunes changed, with Brown finishing in the top-ten for the next five consecutive seasons, with two fifth-place finishes in 2003 and 2004 as his best results. In 2003 he also achieved his first-ever podium finish.[5][6]
The 2007 saw Brown compete only the first few races before a hand injury forced him out and the following year, 2008, Brown and Peters finished outside the top ten again. In 2009 the team improved, coming ninth overall in the World Championship and winning their first-ever race in the competition, in the final race of the season in Rudersberg, Germany. From 2010 to 2012 Brown finished outside the top-ten, switching passengers after the 2010 season.[5][6]
Brown's fortunes greatly improved in 2013 and 2014, now with Josh Chamberlain as his passenger. The pair finished in the top ten in both seasons, with a third place overall in 2014 their best-ever result in the World Championship before 2016. The 2014 French Grand Prix in Brou, saw Brown and Chamberlain take out their first-ever overall Grand Prix victory, ending a long Grand Prix-victory draught for British Sidecarcross riders.[5][6][7]
In 2015 Brown was again partnered with Josh Chamberlain for the season. Brown scored another 5th place overall in the 2015. This was despite being forced to miss the round in Estonia entirely due to problems with the teams race transporter. Whilst a race win eluded Brown during the 2015 season he did achieve 10 race podiums, his highest total for a single season up to this point of his career.
For 2016 Brown rode with Josh Chamberlain, finishing 3rd in the world and gaining another FIM Bronze Medal 2016. For the second time in his career Brown won a Grand Prix overall, this time in Switzerland. This was the first time Brown had not only won the points overall but also won both legs of the event outright, dominating the weekend.
At the end of the 2016 season passenger Josh Chamberlain announced his retirement from International Sidecarcross, initially there was some speculation over if Brown would retire as well. In December 2016 it was confirmed by Brown via Facebook and in UK Publication "Trials and Motocross News" (TMX) that he would return for a full British and Grand Prix season in 2017, partnered by Joe Millard.
Personal life
editStuart Brown has been married to Clare Burgess since 2007, with the couple having three sons and 1 daughter, Brown, a carpenter by profession, lives with his family in Macclesfield, England.[8]
Season by season
editThe season by season results in the World Championship for Stuart Brown:[5][6]
| Season | Passenger | Equipment | Position | Points | Races | Wins | Second | Third |
| 1997 | Luke Peters | Zabel-Cradley | 20 | 32 | 7 | — | — | — |
| 1998 | Luke Peters | Cradley-BHC | 36 | 8 | 2 | — | — | — |
| 1999 | Luke Peters | Zabel-BMC | 32 | 9 | 3 | — | — | — |
| 2000 | Luke Peters | Zabel-BSU | 33 | 12 | 3 | — | — | — |
| 2001 | Luke Peters | Zabel-VMC | 20 | 43 | 9 | — | — | — |
| 2002 | Luke Peters | Zabel-VMC | 6 | 332 | 28 | — | — | — |
| 2003 | Luke Peters | Zabel-VMC | 5 | 342 | 26 | — | — | 2 |
| 2004 | Luke Peters Jason Peters | Zabel-VMC | 5 | 374 | 22 | — | 4 | 3 |
| 2005 | Jason Peters Mark Cooper | Zabel-VMC | 9 | 197 | 19 | — | 2 | — |
| 2006 | Luke Peters | Zabel-VMC | 8 | 165 | 16 | — | — | 1 |
| 2007 | Luke Peters | Zabel-VMC | 24 | 35 | 7 | — | — | — |
| 2008 | Luke Peters | Zabel-VMC | 17 | 108 | 14 | — | — | 1 |
| 2009 | Luke Peters | Husaberg-VMC | 9 | 266 | 24 | 1 | — | 1 |
| 2010 | Luke Peters | Husaberg-VMC | 13 | 223 | 25 | — | — | — |
| 2011 | Josh Chamberlain | Husaberg-VMC | 17 | 122 | 14 | — | — | — |
| 2012 | Josh Chamberlain | Zabel-MEFO | 13 | 149 | 20 | — | — | — |
| 2013 | Josh Chamberlain | Zabel-WSP | 6 | 324 | 28 | — | — | — |
| 2014 | Josh Chamberlain | Zabel-WSP | 3 | 317 | 18 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 2015 | Josh Chamberlain | Zabel-WSP | 5 | 468 | 28 | — | — | 10 |
| 2016 | Josh Chamberlain | Zabel-WSP | ||||||
| Overall 1997 – 2015 | 3,526 | 313 | 2 | 8 | 20 | |||
Key
edit| 1 | World Champions |
| 2 | Runners-up |
| 3 | Third placed |
| 4 – 10 | Driver finished fourth to tenth |
Honours
edit- British National Sidecarcross Championship
- Winners: (13) 2002–2006, 2008–2017
- Runners-up: (2) 2000, 2001
References
edit- ^ a b c d Team Brown official website accessed: 6 November 2014
- ^ a b British Sidecarcross championship results 1990–present Archived 6 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine The Sidecar Motocross Association of Great Britain website, accessed: 6 November 2014
- ^ a b British championship winners The John Davey pages, accessed: 6 November 2014
- ^ STUART BROWN AND JOSH CHAMBERLAIN CLAIM BRITISH SIDECAR CROSS TITLE AT WAKES Auto Cycle Union website, published: 30 September 2013, accessed: 6 November 2014
- ^ a b c d Official World Championship classification 2000–present Archived 16 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine FIM website, accessed: 6 November 2014
- ^ a b c d Stuart Brown results The John Davey pages, accessed: 6 November 2014
- ^ Gespann-WM Brou: Sensation durch Brown/Chamberlain (in German) speedweek.com, published: 10 June 2014, accessed: 6 November 2014
- ^ Looking sweet on motorbike made for two Macclesfield Express, published: 31 October 2007, accessed: 6 November 2014