Chris Etheridge is a retired British

sidecarcross Sidecarcross racing, also known as sidecar motocross, is a branch of motocross. Regular motocross riders use solo machines, but a sidecarcross outfit has a different type of motorcycle chassis operated by a team of two people, a driver and a s ...

rider. In the Sidecarcross World Championship his greatest success has been three top-ten finishes in a career stretching over sixteen seasons from 1986 to 2001, while domestically he has won ten national British Sidecarcross Championships, a record at the time but since broken.British Sidecarcross championship results 1990–present
The Sidecar Motocross Association of Great Britain website, accessed: 9 November 2014

Racing career

British Championship

Chris Etheridge entered the national British Sidecarcross Championship for the first time in 1985 and would compete at this level for the next eighteen years, racing mostly with Shane Skeats as his passenger in the early seasons. The pair finished eighth overall in 1985 but soon became much more competitive, finishing runners-up in the following five seasons from 1986 to 1990. In this era however Paul and Mark Millard proved to strong for Etheridge on each occasion, the Millards taking out five consecutive national titles. The closest Etheridge came to finishing above the pair was in 1987 when he finished only thirteen points behind.
The John Davey pages, accessed: 9 November 2014 With a new passenger, Nick Brace, a new engine make, a Zabel, and the retirement of Paul Millard Etheridge started to dominate the national championship from 1991 onwards, winning six consecutive titles until 1997. The first three seasons were won with a comfortable margin, in 1994 however Etheridge took the title out by only four points. Etheridge had almost missed out because of a broken shoulder the week before the final round but rode despite the injury and against the doctors advice. From 1994 he switched to Garry Withers as his permanent passenger, having utilised him before sporadically. His run of national titles was stopped in 1998 when Peter Clark and John Chambers took out the title and Etheridge came only third. Etheridge, now with Chambers as his passenger, won three more national titles from 1998 onwards. The 1998 one meant he surpassed the previous record of seven national titles held by Terry Good. After his tenth and last championship in 2001 Etheridge retired from the sport domestically and internationally. Etheridge made a brief return to the competition when he raced in place of his son injured Jack for one event in Wooley Grange in July 2012.MAXXIS BRITISH SIDECARCROSS CHAMPIONSHIPS HEADS TO WOOLEY GRANGE
ACU website, published: 27 June 2012, accessed: 9 November 2014 His record of ten national titles was surpassed by Stuart Brown in 2013 when the latter won his eleventh title.STUART BROWN AND JOSH CHAMBERLAIN CLAIM BRITISH SIDECAR CROSS TITLE AT WAKES
Auto Cycle Union website, published: 30 September 2013, accessed: 6 November 2014

World Championship

Chris Etheridge made his debut in the Sidecarcross World Championship at the opening race of the 1986 season, the British Grand Prix, finishing third in his first-ever race and eighteenth overall in the competition. The first seven seasons Etheridge experienced moderate success in the competition, racing sporadically, with a twelfth place overall and two podium finishes in races in 1991 as his best result. A more successful era followed from 1993 to 1995 when, racing with Garry Withers as his passenger he finished in the top-ten each season. The 1993 season became his best-ever in the World Championship, finishing seventh overall and taking out three race wins, one in Germany and two at the British Grand Prix in

Langrish Langrish is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is in the civil parish of Stroud and is 2.7 miles (4.3 km) west of Petersfield, on the A272 road. Rail Connections The nearest main railway s ...

, thereby winning the later event, the only GP victory in his career. The 1994 and 1995 seasons were not quite as successful, finishing tenth and ninth overall and winning only one more race, the first race in the first of two French Grand Prix in 1994. From 1996 onwards his results and number of race participations declined again, Etheridge not finishing in the top-ten again in his final six seasons in the competition. He managed to win two more races, in the Czech Republic in 1996 and in Switzerland in 2000 without achieving any other podium finishes in this time. In his final season, 2001, he finished twenty first, one place and point behind fellow British rider Stuart Brown who would succeed Etheridge as the most outstanding British rider of his period domestically and internationally from then on.

Private life

Etheridge hails from

Staplehurst Staplehurst is a town and civil parish in the borough of Maidstone in Kent, England, south of the town of Maidstone and with a population of 6,003. The town lies on the route of a Roman road, which is now incorporated into the course of the A2 ...

, near

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the c ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. His son Jack is also a sidecarcross rider and active in both the British and World Championship.Sidecar champ bows out on winning note
Kentonline.co.uk, published: 21 September 2001, accessed: 10 November 2014

Season by season

The season by season results in the World Championship for Chris Etheridge:Official World Championship classification 2000–present
FIM website, accessed: 9 November 2014
The John Davey pages, accessed: 9 November 2014

Key

Honours

* British National Sidecarcross Championship ** Winners: (10) 1991–1997, 1999–2001 ** Runners-up: (5) 1986–1991

References

External links

The John Davey Pages
Sidecarcross results and statistics {{DEFAULTSORT:Etheridge, Chris Living people British sidecarcross riders People from Staplehurst Sportspeople from Kent Year of birth missing (living people)