Todd Ellis interview with Eric Sauvage

[mark_d]

Thought everyone would like to read what he said!!

Todd Ellis answers Éric Sauvage's questionnaire.

Eric, Sauvage,
hello Todd.
Thank you for taking part in this questionnaire and congratulations on a wonderful season that has led you to the titles of F.I.M. World Champion and British Champion.
Todd, can you introduce yourself?

Hi, I'm Todd Ellis, 29 years old, from North Kelsey in Lincolnshire, England.

Éric Sauvage
Can you tell me about your sidecar background?
Todd Ellis
My first time on a sidecar was at the end of the season in 2015, the 66 Auto club used to organize a "sidecar bash" which was always the last race of the season for fun.
I borrowed my father-in-law's (Gary Bryan) Baker F2 to do my first sidecar race.
Jamie Winn was my first passenger at the time.
Then the following year I did the same meeting again on the same bike but with Charlie Richardson as a passenger.
That's when we discussed whether he would like to ride with me permanently the following year and I bought a 2004 LCR rolling chassis over the winter when the rules were just starting to change.
I put a 600cc Honda engine in it.
Since then, we have progressed by participating in bigger and bigger championships until 2021 when we tried to play my first full season at the world championship level.

Éric Sauvage
How did you come to practice this sport at a high level?
Todd Ellis
Unlike solos, there are no track days or tests available in England for sidecars.
So we always try to go to the Ekarts Training in the Vienna Valley in March every year.
It's a very well organised week of testing with generally good weather.
Apart from this week, all you have to do is register for a competition and give it a try.

Éric Sauvage
In what year did you start riding a sidecar?
Todd Ellis
I raced in 2015 and one in 2016 on a sidecar before my first full year on a sidecar in 2017 at the British Championship in the 600c class.
Do you have a role model, a person who inspired you to build your sporting career?
I don't really have a role model as such, I just see others as human beings who, given enough time and effort, can do what they do.
When I watched the races, I didn't know anything about the world championship and the riders, I didn't know any of the top riders.
All I looked up to as a kid was the TT and that's the race I wanted to do the most.

Éric Sauvage
How did you become Emmanuelle Clément's pilot?
Todd Ellis
It all started at the start of the 2021 season.
We were still facing travel restrictions due to Covid.
The first round was Le Mans and we had to go there a week early and isolate before we could race.
My passenger at the time (Charlie Richardson) couldn't do it, so I spoke to Emmanuelle and she agreed to be my passenger, which also allowed us to self-isolate during the week.

Éric Sauvage
How is complementarity expressed with Emmanuelle?
Todd Ellis:
She's very sweet.
An important part of being a passenger is not knowing that they are there.
As a rider, you should never feel a good passenger moving on a board.
The passenger should be in the pilot's head and know what I'm going to do next and already be ready to do it, which is what Emmanuelle does very well.

Éric Sauvage
How do you analyse Emmanuelle Clément's performances?
Todd Ellis:
We never really analyze other people's performance.
We're a team, which means sometimes you have to lose as a team to win.
You put enough pressure on yourself to do well without anyone else adding to it.
If one of us makes a mistake, we can talk about it after the fact, but we try to move forward and learn from our mistakes.

Éric Sauvage
Can you tell us about Emmanuelle Clément, what are her strengths and areas for improvement?
Todd Ellis
I don't want her to get big-headed, but I've never had a passenger as committed as she has before.
We've grown as a team because of this, every nut and bolt is double-checked and as clean as it can be.
Before each competition, we walk on the track and take notes on the changes compared to previous years.
It is by looking at every detail as much as possible that the sidecar remains reliable and allows us to be up to the task on the track.

Éric Sauvage
What do you remember from this 2023 season, the best and the worst memories, how do you analyze your season?
Todd Ellis:
I've generally enjoyed this whole year.
I think everyone on the grid in the world championship has improved.
There were some very good races, clean and tight, where the victory came down to the last lap, the last corner.
Maybe the worst time of the year was that we didn't start very strong at the Sachsenring.
We came away from there struggling a bit with the set-up, but we've learned from it and we have ideas to be stronger next year.

Éric Sauvage
Do you have any areas to improve and what are they?
Todd Ellis:
I think there's always room for improvement.
This winter, I'm taking my fitness very seriously and going to the gym to work out three times a week.
As for the sidecar, you can never sit idle.
It still has to be faster and better than the previous year, otherwise you start to fall behind.

Éric Sauvage
how did you experience your results in the F.I.M. sidecar world championship?
Todd Ellis
We don't take anything for granted, we just do our best to do what we can on the day. If that means riding for a point, that point can make the difference in the championship at the end of the year.

It's always nice to be on the top step but later in the season you have to start thinking about the championship, you don't need to win races to win championships.

Éric Sauvage
What did your F.I.M. sidecar world championship titles bring you?
Todd Ellis:
I think it helps when the sport is so expensive, when you go to sponsors
and you already have two titles to your name.
It proves that you can do it and maybe it helps to get more sponsors.
Sidecars may struggle to get the recognition they deserve, but we're doing our best to change that and help elevate the sport as a whole.

Éric Sauvage
With your results in the World Championships and the British Championship, are you recognized in the world of English sidecars?
Todd Ellis
The sidecar category is a pretty small circle, so everyone knows most of the others.
It's nice to be recognized for what we've done and to be proud of it, but I don't see us as any different.
We both have to get up on Monday morning and go to work like everyone else.

Éric Sauvage
What is the recognition of the English FA?
Todd Ellis:
That was the biggest shock for me after winning the first world championship.
I couldn't believe how much the FFM supported Emmanuelle.
As soon as she stepped off the podium in Portugal, she received a phone call from the president, she was invited to dinner and to Paris several times.
The FFM plays a very good role in trying to help its members be at the top of the sport.
Here in England there is nothing like it, you pay your membership fee at the beginning of the year and that's it.
I would not even be able to tell you the name of the president, let alone meet him.
I heard in Liverpool at this year's AGM that we have a new, younger chairman, so hopefully that will change over time.

Éric Sauvage
What is your fondest sporting memory?
Todd Ellis:
It's probably crossing the finish line of our first World Championships in Estoril.

Éric Sauvage
What are your goals for the 2024 season?
Todd Ellis
We want to defend our World Championship title again and with the purchase of a new Yamaha CES F2 we want to compete in the FSRA F2 British Championship and the TT.

Éric Sauvage
Can you tell us about your project in the Isle of Man and what were your motivations?
Todd Ellis
yes, that's a big goal for us next year.
I grew up around the Isle of Man for years.
I was 4 years old when I first went and it was my stepdad's first year of racing in 1998.
I've only missed 3 editions since then.
I've always had it in the back of my mind but I now feel that we are at the right time and place to do it with the right support around us.
This is going to be an ongoing project for us.
So the first year, we just want to go out there and enjoy it, and have two good results without any expectations.

Éric Sauvage Is
there anything else you would like to add?
Todd Ellis:
Thank you for your time and for allowing us to share a small part of our story with you.
Thank you for your contribution.