Defending champions Harrison Payne (Yamaha) and Kevin Rousseau fought their way to the top of the 2025 FIM Sidecar World Championship points table with a commanding pair of performances at round three of the championship, staged over the weekend at Hungary’s famous Pannónia-Ring.
- Defending champions Harrison Payne and Kevin Rousseau take double win in Hungary
- Sam and Thomas Christie move into second in championship chase
- Markus Schlosser and Luca Schmidt drop from first to third at the Pannónia-Ring
The British/French pairing had been playing catch-up following a mechanical issue at the opening round in April and over the course of two sun-drenched days in Hungary they reeled in and then passed early season pace-setters Markus Schlosser (Yamaha) and Luca Schmidt who by close of play on Sunday found themselves in third in the championship chase having also been overtaken by British brothers Sam and Thomas Christie (Yamaha).
After topping Qualification for the third successive time, Payne and Rousseau started Saturday’s nine-lap Sprint race in second behind the Christie brothers with Schlosser and Schmidt slotting into an initial third place ahead of the Finnish/British pairing of Pekka Päivärinta (Yamaha) and Adam Christie.
A chaotic turn two resulted in a reshuffle towards the front of the pack with the Swiss/German team of Schlosser and Schmidt losing ground before getting reeled in and passed by two-time champions Todd Ellis (Yamaha) from Britain and Emmanuelle Clement from France and Britain’s Tim Reeves (Yamaha) and his German stand-in passenger Kevin Kölsch.
As the race moved into the closing stages the intensity was incredible with Payne and Rousseau passing the Christie brothers for the lead and Päivärinta and Christie holding third ahead of Ellis and Clement. Schlosser and Schmidt also found a way back around Reeves and Kölsch for fifth before the red flags came out on lap eight to bring the race to a slightly premature end.
The result gave the defending champions the series lead by a single point and they started Sunday’s fifteen-lap Main race looking determined to extend this advantage chased by Schlosser and Schmidt, the Christie brothers, Päivärinta and Christie, Reeves and Kölsch and Ellis and Clement.
The French pairing of Paul Leglise (Yamaha) and Marjorie Cescutti were also keen to make their presence felt and they moved up to fifth ahead of Reeves and Kölsch and Ellis and Clement who exchanged passes for sixth a number of times before the British/German pairing pulled out with a mechanical issue on lap five.
With Payne and Rousseau looking comfortable at the front ahead of the Christie brothers, Päivärinta and Christie and Schlosser and Schmidt, the leading four crews held position until the chequered flag was waved, but Ellis and Clement did not get to see it after crashing on lap nine.
Looking good for a fighting fifth until the closing stages, Leglise and Cescutti dropped back following an unplanned off-track excursion, handing the position to the British/Czech pairing of Rupert Archer (Yamaha) and Ondřej Sedláček.
Focus now moves to Most in the Czech Republic this coming weekend (21-22 June) for round four with Payne/Rousseau leading the Christie brothers by twelve points with Schlosser/Schmidt just a single point further adrift. 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.