The design of the front wheel assembly and the position of the 'third' outrigger wheel - those are among key factors for success in sidecar racing.

At least, so goes the theory, set to be tested by a group of plucky student pairings representing Palmerston North's Awatapu College at next week's national inter-school racing event for miniature motorcycles at Manfeild Park, Feilding.

Dabbled with in previous years, sidecar racing has finally gained the strength gained to make it a full-blown class at the October 17-19 Mini Moto GP, which in 2011 has attracted 270 young riders, representing 14 schools from throughout much of the North Island and some from the south, as well.

There will be 12 sidecar rigs out for the competition - twice as many as last year.

"It's going to be brilliant," enthused 17-year-old Antony Ladd, the rider of one of Awatapu's two machines, finished in flouro orange. "We've been testing already and the bike is really fast."

Ari Christensen, 16, will be the passenger - swinger in riding terms - on the other bike. He's also keen to get racing. "We want to see how our bikes compare. We think we have come up with some good ideas to beat them."

Teacher Bernie Dowrick, who heads the college's technical classes and oversaw the design and construction, says it is hard not to be drawn into good-natured inter-school competitiveness. His specific aim: To show up Feilding High School, which last year dominated the entire meeting.

"We've heard bits and pieces about their design, and it's supposed to be quite different to ours. We think we've got it right!"

Event architect, Feilding High technology teacher Roger Emmerson, is rapt. He's something of a sidecar nut so no surprise his school will contribute half the field. As long as the Awatapu pair, there are two from Lytton High School (Gisborne) and Nelson and Wanganui City Colleges have one apiece.

Sidecars deliver a whole new challenge, not just to the racing - which with two aboard becomes even more of a team effort and is a real thrill - but also during the design phase in this 'bring it to build it' exercise.

"With the miniature motorcycles the kids start with a kit that delivers wheels, an engine and brakes, but they have a frame design to follow," Mr Emmerson explains.

"With the sidecars, they just start with the engine and pretty much have to create everything from there on by themselves.

"And it's just a great thrill. The swingers, in particular, have to lean out to make the bikes handle better and I imagine there'll be a few ripping the seats out of their pants."

Manfeild Park chief executive Heather Verry says it's just another sign of how the GP continues to go from strength to strength.

"The innovation shown in this exercise is amazing and a huge credit to the students and their teachers. The GP started out at Manfeild and this is the fourth. Every year the bikes get better and better and so does the racing.

"This year's meeting is the first to fall into a school holiday period, and I'd encourage adults and kids to come along to watch. There'll be some amazing racing.

"This is such an inspirational event for students - a true hand's-on learning exercise with real academic application for future careers in technical and engineering - and we're just thrilled to be the host venue."

Mr Emmerson was driven to create the annual race because he wanted a project that would excite his students and leave them with something they could be truly proud to call their own. As a keen enthusiastic motorcyclist, mini motorbikes seemed an obvious choice.

It has blossomed into a bone fide course. The participants gain achievement standards in design, following assessment at Manfeild.

Along with researching designs and construction, students learn how to fabricate accurately, welding and machining, all good skills to have when looking at going into trades.

The bulk of the field comprises single-rider bikes, in 39cc water-cooled and 50cc air-cooled forms, usually less than 50 centimetres high and no more than one metre in length - the reason why even small kids look big on them.

The sidecars are obviously larger and carry more weight, so upsize to the biggest engines on the track - 'mighty' 110cc units that should propel the rigs to 70kmh. That might not seem fast in normal driving conditions, but on machines sitting just centimetres off the ground, it's quite quick enough!

The first GP involved five schools and around 100 participants. The 2010 meeting drew double this turnout, an upsize that resulted in a move across from Manfeild's 1.5km training circuit and onto the full 3km main track and its award-winning facilities.

The programme attracts sponsorship from Manawatu tertiary institution UCOL and also has the enthusiastic backing of Tools 4 Work (Competenz, the engineering, food and manufacturing industry training organisation), and Mara Automotive Training. There are also eight Manawatu sub-sponsors.

Sport Manawatu, Eastern and Central Community Trust and Endeavour Community Trust also have an active engagement. All are long-time supporters of Manfeild.

The organising committee involves teachers from Feilding High School and Lytton, plus representatives from Manfeild Park Trust, Motorsport Manawatu, UCOL, Tim Gibbes' Track Timing and Newstalk ZB radio sports host Russell Harris.

Stars of New Zealand motorcycling sport have given their support to the GP. Former world superbike great Aaron Slight and fellow top-level international Shaun Harris have been guest presenters, a role this year given to Iain Jerrett, the driving force behind an exciting future-now two-wheeled racing project.

The Kapiti Coast resident is director of clean energy company Astara Technologies Limited which has developed a New Zealand-first pure electric racing motorcycle that will be demonstrated to students.

In addition to showcasing the potential of latest generation battery and drive systems, including Astara's battery management system, the high-performance bike is designed to compete in TTX GP, an emerging international racing series for electric-powered racers.

The bike's debut circuit trial at Manfeild in August attracted national media attention.

Public entry to the meeting is by gold coin donation or the purchase of a programme at the gate.