After seizing the points lead last time out, defending FIM Sidecar World Champions Harrison Payne (ARS Yamaha) and Kevin Rousseau head to Most in the Czech Republic for round four this coming weekend (20-22 June) looking to tighten their hold on the 2025 title campaign.
- Most plays host to round four of FIM Sidecar World Championship
- Reigning champions Harrison Payne and Kevin Rousseau lead the field
- Brothers Sam and Thomas Christie second from Markus Schlosser and Luca Schmidt
The British/French pairing had been on the back foot since a technical issue forced them out of the Main race at the opening round at Le Mans in April, but a strong performance at round two in Portugal backed up by a maximum points haul last weekend in Hungary has elevated them to the top of the standings as the seven-round series approaches the halfway point in the Czech Republic.
Swiss former champion rider Markus Schlosser (Yamaha) with his German passenger Luca Schmidt had set the early pace and were ideally positioned to benefit from the mechanical misfortune suffered by Payne/Rousseau at round one in France. However, a last-lap spin while leading the Main race at Estoril and two below-par performances at the Pannónia-Ring mean they have slipped to third.
Sandwiched between the two crews in a solid second, British brothers Sam and Thomas Christie (ARS Yamaha) will start the weekend in the Autodrom Most trailing Payne/Rousseau by twelve points and just one ahead of Schlosser/Schmidt following their impressive start to the season that has brought six podiums from six starts, an enviable one-hundred per cent record no other team has managed to match this year.
There is incredible in-depth strength in the field this season with nine competitors – six riders and three passengers – who between them have already won twenty coveted FIM gold medals in the discipline and this means a fierce fight for virtually every position.
A five-time champion rider, Finnish legend Pekka Päivärinta (ARS Yamaha) with British passenger Adam Christie – the third of the Christie brothers in action this weekend – leads the chasing pack. The pair have been on the podium at least once at every round and in Hungary two third-placed finishes have helped keep them in medal contention.
Back-to-back world champions in 2022 and 2023, the British/French pairing of Todd Ellis (Yamaha) and Emanuelle Clement started the weekend in Hungary in fifth in the points table, though any hopes they might have had of regaining the crown were effectively ended when they crashed out of the Main race just after half-distance.
However, despite this no-score they still retain fifth in the standings after Britain’s Tim Reeves (ARS Yamaha) – with stand-in German passenger Kevin Kölsch – also failed to finish the Main race at the Pannónia-Ring.
The points-scoring action from the Autodrom Most is due to get under way on Saturday (21 June) with the ten-lap Sprint race at 15:45 (local time) with the seventeen-lap Main race scheduled for Sunday (22 June) at 13:05 (local time).
Rounds four through to seven of the 2025 FIM Sidecar World Championship will be streamed LIVE on FIM-MOTO.TV. For more information click here.