Former champions Harrison Payne and Kevin Rousseau got their quest to regain the FIM Sidecar World Championship title off to a perfect start after dominating Qualifying and both points-scoring races when the 2026 series got under way at the Circuit Bugatti in Le Mans, France, at the weekend.
- 2026 FIM Sidecar World Championship opens at Circuit Bugatti
- Former champions Harrison Payne and Kevin Rousseau draw first blood
- Sam and Thomas Christie begin title defence with third in France
Staged as part of the iconic 24 Heures Motos, the opening event in the six-round series gave fans an early indication of which crews have been working hard over the winter break and the British/French pairing – champions in 2024 – had clearly put the hours in during the off-season, shrugging off determined challenges from defending champions Sam and Thomas Christie and veteran Finn Pekka Päivärinta with Adam Christie, the third of the British brothers, in the chair.
Following a close-fought Qualifying that saw the leading five crews separated by less than a second, Payne/Rousseau led the eleven-lap Sprint race on Friday (17 April) into the first turn with Päivärinta/Christie slotting into second ahead of Christie/Christie and Switzerland’s Markus Schlosser with new German passenger Lucas Krieg.
With the leading pair beginning to gap the chasing pack, the British team of Lewis Blackstock and Oscar Lawrence – who claimed a race podium on their sole championship appearance last season – were forced to pull out when their outfit caught fire.
Just after half-distance the safety car came out for another incident and remained on the circuit until one lap remained before Payne/Rousseau opened their account with maximum points ahead of Christie/Christie and Päivärinta/Christie as Schlosser/Krieg took fourth from the British/French pairing of Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clément with a pass on the final lap.
The following morning the crews rolled up to the startline for the concluding eighteen-lap Main race and Payne/Rousseau once again put their outfit into the lead chased by the Christie brothers and the French son and father team of Ted and Vincent Peugeot along with Päivärinta/Christie and Schlosser/Krieg.
With the leading pair looking good for another twenty-five points, the red flags came out following a crash involving the British/French pairing of Lewis Nicol and Clément Conil that forced a restart over a five-lap race distance.
Payne/Rousseau made sure their earlier form was not wasted as they immediately re-established their position at the front of the field with the Christie brothers losing an initial second to Päivärinta/Christie. Ellis/Clément and Peugeot/Peugeot fought for fourth ahead of Schlosser/Krieg who led Britain’s multi-time champion Tim Reeves – who last won the FIM Sidecar Rider World Champion title in 2019 – with France’s Mélanie Farnier in the sidecar.
With the gaps between the leaders lengthening, Payne/Rousseau brought it home almost five seconds clear of Päivärinta/Christie with the Christie brothers almost two seconds further adrift in third before another sizeable gap to Ellis/Clément and Peugeot/Peugeot.
The focus now switches to Grobnik-Rijeka in Croatia where round two will take place over the weekend of 9-10 May.
Selected rounds of the 2026 FIM Sidecar World Championship will be streamed LIVE on FIM-MOTO.TV. For more information click here.