Defending champions Harrison Payne (Yamaha) and Kevin Rousseau raced to overall victory at round two of the 2025 FIM Sidecar World Championship at Estoril in Portugal on Sunday and in the process closed the gap to early pace-setters Markus Schlosser (Yamaha) and Luca Schmidt to just thirteen points.
- Estoril in Portugal hosts round two of FIM Sidecar World Championship
- Reigning champions Harrison Payne and Kevin Rousseau on top
- Last-lap spin in race two proves expensive for Markus Schlosser and Luca Schmidt
After emerging on top at last weekend’s opening round at Le Mans, the Swiss/German pairing of Schlosser and Schmidt began the action-packed day on Portugal’s scenic Atlantic coast holding a thirteen-point advantage over British brothers Sam and Thomas Christie (Yamaha).
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Playing catch-up following a mechanical DNF in the opening race in France, Britain’s Payne and his French passenger were twenty points off the leaders’ pace, but wasted no time in signalling their intentions when for the second successive round they topped Qualification to put themselves on pole, less than half-a-second clear of Schlosser/Schmidt. Race 2 at 2025 FIM Sidecar World Championship - Estoril (Portugal) © Mark Walters Watched by a sizeable audience streaming the action LIVE on FIM-MOTO.TV, Payne/Rousseau translated their pole into an early lead in the morning’s ten-lap Sprint race, although could not shake the constant presence of Schlosser/Schmidt around the winding circuit and on lap seven were forced to defend as the Swiss rider made an audacious move for the lead at the end of the main straight.
Having been denied at their first attempt, one lap later Schlosser/Schmidt attacked again at the same corner and this time they found their way around the outside of Payne/Rousseau to take the lead. Any hopes they had that it was the decisive pass of the race were dashed by Payne/Rousseau who retook the lead on the final lap, but on the long drag up to the chequered flag Schlosser/Schmidt pulled ahead to win by just 0.04.
Just over eight seconds behind the winners, Christie/Christie came home third for the third race in a row with two-time champions Todd Ellis (Yamaha) from Britain and Emmanuelle Clement from France in fourth chased by the Finnish/British pairing of Pekka Päivärinta (Yamaha) and Adam Christie with Britain’s Tim Reeves (Yamaha) and Mark Wilkes, who were champions in 2019, completing the top six.
With their lead extended to twenty-two points over the Christie brothers, Schlosser/Schmidt attacked at the start of the afternoon’s seventeen-lap Main race and made a challenge for the lead in the first turn. However, their enthusiasm cost them a number of positions and they dropped back to fifth on lap two as Reeves and Wilkes provided the initial challenge to Payne/Rousseau before an apparent mechanical problem put them out of the race on lap three.
This gifted Payne and Rousseau a comfortable lead, but Schlosser and Schmidt were patiently working their way up the field. After passing Ellis/Clement for third on lap four, one lap later they demoted the Christie brothers and set about reeling in the leaders.
At half-distance Schlosser and Schmidt worked an inside line at the end of the main straight to take the lead and although Payne/Rousseau kept the pressure on it looked to be a race-winning pass until on the final lap the leaders span in a left-hand turn and rolled backwards into a gravel trap.
Payne/Rousseau swept through to take the lead and the victory from Christie/Christie by over thirteen seconds with Päivärinta/Christie a close third as Schlosser/Schmidt, after frantically managing to get their outfit back onto the track, completed a vital recovery in fourth.
Ellis/Clement crashed out of fifth with seven laps remaining, allowing Germany’s Patrick Werkstetter (Yamaha) and his French passenger Valentin Pirat and Britain’s Sam and Jack Laidlow (Yamaha) to all move up a position.
The seven-round series now takes a break before resuming with round three on 14/15 June at Hungary’s Pannónia-Ring. For more information on the 2025 FIM Sidecar World Championship click here.
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.