Following a seven-week break, the action in the 2025 FIM Sidecar World Championship resumes this coming weekend (14-15 June) with round three scheduled for Hungary’s famous Pannónia-Ring.
- FIM Sidecar World Championship resumes with round three in Hungary
- Markus Schlosser and Luca Schmidt lead heading to famous Pannónia-Ring
- Defending champions Harrison Payne and Kevin Rousseau trail by thirteen points
Following the opening rounds at Le Mans in France and Estoril in Portugal, the Swiss/German pairing of Markus Schlosser (Yamaha) and Luca Schmidt hold a slim thirteen-point advantage over defending champions Harrison Payne (Yamaha) and Kevin Rousseau.
A mechanical DNF in France immediately put the British/French pairing on the back foot, but they fought back strongly in Portugal. Following an intense battle in Estoril’s ten-lap Sprint race that was won by Schlosser and Schmidt on the run to the finish line, Payne and Rousseau were ideally placed to take advantage of a late mistake by the championship leaders in the closing stages of the seventeen-lap Main race.
On the final lap Schlosser and Schmidt span out of the lead and dropped to fourth, handing victory to Payne and Rousseau who needed no second invitation to take the maximum points on offer and close dramatically on the series lead.
Currently just two points adrift of Payne and Rousseau, British brothers Sam and Thomas Christie (Yamaha) were second overall at Le Mans and although they slipped a position in Estoril they remain firmly in title contention and are now twenty-one points clear of the fourth-placed Finnish/British pairing of Pekka Päivärinta (Yamaha) and Adam Christie.
Päivärinta – who is racing with Christie in the sidecar for the second successive season – has won five FIM Sidecar Rider World Championship titles. However, such is the talent in depth this season he is in very good company and as well as Payne and Rousseau he must contend with FIM gold medal winners including Schlosser, two-time champions Todd Ellis (Yamaha) and Emmanuelle Clement plus Tim Reeves (Yamaha) and Mark Wilkes.
Having dominated the series in 2022 and 2023 when they claimed back-to-back crowns, the British/French pairing of Ellis and Clement currently lie fifth – two places and seven points ahead of 2019 champions Reeves and Wilkes – and know they need to pick up the pace in Hungary if they are going to complete their hat-trick of titles this season.
The action from the Pannónia-Ring is scheduled to get under way at 18:30 (local time) on Saturday (14 June) with the nine-lap Sprint race with the fifteen-lap Main race due to start at 12:15 (local time) on Sunday (15 June).
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.