Re: FIM World Sidecar Championship Assen 15/16/17 August
Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2025 6:17 pm
Update from Mark Walters
Harry Payne and Kevin Rousseau regain 2025 FIM Sidecar World Championship lead with Dutch double!
It is all change at the top of the 2025 FIM Sidecar World Championship standings after defending champions Harrison Payne (ARS Yamaha) and Kevin Rousseau re-established their dominance with two hard-fought victories at the TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands over the weekend.
Heading to the fabled âCathedral of Speedâ trailing joint leaders Markus Schlosser (LCR Yamaha) and Luca Schmidt and brothers Sam and Thomas Christie (LCR Yamaha) by just three points, the British/French pairing were in top form to put the disappointment of a mechanical DNF at the previous round firmly behind them.
Victories in Saturdayâs Sprint race and Sundayâs Main race took their total of wins this season to seven and earned them an eleven-point lead over the British brothers, who extended their run of podium finishes to ten from ten starts, but Schlosser and Schmidt finished outside the top three in both races and as a result the Swiss/German pairing has slipped to third, twenty-one points behind the leaders.
Despite needing a change of engines prior to the first Qualifying session, Payne and Rousseau claimed pole position for the points-scoring races ahead of the Christie brothers and the Finnish/British pairing of Pekka Päivärinta (ARS Yamaha) and Adam Christie â the third of the Christie brothers in action this weekend â before Saturday afternoonâs nine-lap Sprint race.
With conditions dry and warm, Payne and Rousseau led from the start from the Christie brothers with Päivärinta and Christie slotting into third ahead of the French pairing of Paul Leglise (LCR Yamaha) and Marjorie Cescutti. Schlosser and Schmidt lay sixth behind former champions Todd Ellis (LCR Yamaha) from Britain and his French passenger Emanuelle Clement who then moved ahead of Leglise/Cescutti on lap two.
With the leading crews all holding position, at the end of lap seven there was contact between Payne/Rousseau and the Christie brothers. Lucky not to spin their outfit, the Christie brothers ran wide and Päivärinta/Christie slipped through to second which they held to the flag, crossing the line just under a second behind Payne/Rousseau.
The Christie brothers finished almost four-and-a-half seconds further back in third chased by Schlosser and Schmidt who passed Ellis and Clement on the last lap.
Sundayâs Main race was an epic encounter and too close to call for almost the full sixteen-lap duration with Payne and Rousseau leading until the end of lap two when the Christie brothers slipped inside entering the chicane at the start of the main straight.
The following lap Päivärinta/Christie pushed the reigning champions back to third at the same place as they had lost the lead and two laps later Schlosser/Schmidt moved ahead of Leglise/Cescutti into fifth before demoting Ellis/Clement on the following lap.
At half-distance less than two seconds covered the top four before Payne/Rousseau reclaimed second on lap nine and then hit the front again at the start of lap fourteen when they out-braked the Christie brothers at the end of the main straight.
At the flag there was just over a second between first and fourth with Payne/Rousseau leading home the Christie brothers, Päivärinta/Christie and Schlosser/Schmidt with Ellis/Clement crossing the line a distant fifth ahead of British rider Rupert Archer (ARS Yamaha) and his Czech passenger OndĹej SedlĂĄÄek.
The focus now shifts to 20-21 September when the series returns to Assen for the sixth and penultimate round.
WATCH LIVE
20â21 September. The remaining rounds of the 2025 FIM Sidecar World Championship will be streamed LIVE on FIM-MOTO TV.
Fans can download the Sportity App and use the password FIMSidecar2025 to access all the latest news.
#FIM | #FIMsideCar
Harry Payne and Kevin Rousseau regain 2025 FIM Sidecar World Championship lead with Dutch double!It is all change at the top of the 2025 FIM Sidecar World Championship standings after defending champions Harrison Payne (ARS Yamaha) and Kevin Rousseau re-established their dominance with two hard-fought victories at the TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands over the weekend.
Heading to the fabled âCathedral of Speedâ trailing joint leaders Markus Schlosser (LCR Yamaha) and Luca Schmidt and brothers Sam and Thomas Christie (LCR Yamaha) by just three points, the British/French pairing were in top form to put the disappointment of a mechanical DNF at the previous round firmly behind them.
Victories in Saturdayâs Sprint race and Sundayâs Main race took their total of wins this season to seven and earned them an eleven-point lead over the British brothers, who extended their run of podium finishes to ten from ten starts, but Schlosser and Schmidt finished outside the top three in both races and as a result the Swiss/German pairing has slipped to third, twenty-one points behind the leaders.
Despite needing a change of engines prior to the first Qualifying session, Payne and Rousseau claimed pole position for the points-scoring races ahead of the Christie brothers and the Finnish/British pairing of Pekka Päivärinta (ARS Yamaha) and Adam Christie â the third of the Christie brothers in action this weekend â before Saturday afternoonâs nine-lap Sprint race.
With conditions dry and warm, Payne and Rousseau led from the start from the Christie brothers with Päivärinta and Christie slotting into third ahead of the French pairing of Paul Leglise (LCR Yamaha) and Marjorie Cescutti. Schlosser and Schmidt lay sixth behind former champions Todd Ellis (LCR Yamaha) from Britain and his French passenger Emanuelle Clement who then moved ahead of Leglise/Cescutti on lap two.
With the leading crews all holding position, at the end of lap seven there was contact between Payne/Rousseau and the Christie brothers. Lucky not to spin their outfit, the Christie brothers ran wide and Päivärinta/Christie slipped through to second which they held to the flag, crossing the line just under a second behind Payne/Rousseau.
The Christie brothers finished almost four-and-a-half seconds further back in third chased by Schlosser and Schmidt who passed Ellis and Clement on the last lap.
Sundayâs Main race was an epic encounter and too close to call for almost the full sixteen-lap duration with Payne and Rousseau leading until the end of lap two when the Christie brothers slipped inside entering the chicane at the start of the main straight.
The following lap Päivärinta/Christie pushed the reigning champions back to third at the same place as they had lost the lead and two laps later Schlosser/Schmidt moved ahead of Leglise/Cescutti into fifth before demoting Ellis/Clement on the following lap.
At half-distance less than two seconds covered the top four before Payne/Rousseau reclaimed second on lap nine and then hit the front again at the start of lap fourteen when they out-braked the Christie brothers at the end of the main straight.
At the flag there was just over a second between first and fourth with Payne/Rousseau leading home the Christie brothers, Päivärinta/Christie and Schlosser/Schmidt with Ellis/Clement crossing the line a distant fifth ahead of British rider Rupert Archer (ARS Yamaha) and his Czech passenger OndĹej SedlĂĄÄek.
The focus now shifts to 20-21 September when the series returns to Assen for the sixth and penultimate round.
WATCH LIVE
20â21 September. The remaining rounds of the 2025 FIM Sidecar World Championship will be streamed LIVE on FIM-MOTO TV. Fans can download the Sportity App and use the password FIMSidecar2025 to access all the latest news.
#FIM | #FIMsideCar