05/10/2026
🥇Payne and Rousseau clinch 2026 FIM Sidecar World Championship!!!
Harrison Payne (ARS Yamaha) and Kevin Rousseau are the 2026 FIM Sidecar World Champions. The British/French pairing – who won the title together in 2024 – clinched the crown with victory in Saturday’s Sprint race at the sixth and deciding round staged at Oschersleben in Germany before signing off with their ninth victory of the season when they dominated Sunday’s Main race.
Taking the title with a forty-point winning margin from defending champions Sam and Thomas Christie (LCR Yamaha) from Great Britain before a further nine-point gap back to third-placed Pekka Päivärinta (ARS Yamaha) and Adam Christie, the writing was on the wall as early as Qualification when the British/French pairing were almost a full second clear of the chasing pack.
Starting the weekend with a twenty-five-and-a-half-point advantage, Payne/Rousseau led into the first turn of the Sprint race chased by the French son and father pairing of Ted and Vincent Peugeot (LCR Yamaha), Christie/Christie and Swiss star Markus Schlosser (LCR Yamaha) and his German passenger Lucas Krieg with the Finnish/British pairing of Päivärinta/Christie holding an initial fifth.
As Payne/Rousseau began to open a gap, the Peugeots and the Christies waged war over second position while, a little further back, an equally fierce battle was developing between Schlosser/Krieg and Päivärinta/Christie for fourth.
Buoyed up by their first podium together two rounds ago in Italy, Peugeot/Peugeot continued to press the soon-to-be champions and even began to reduce the deficit in the closing stages of the twelve-lap race. Although were unable to get close enough to make a move and finished just under two seconds behind before a gap of around eleven-and-a-half seconds to the Christie brothers.
Despite race-long pressure, the experienced Päivärinta – who has signalled his intention to retire from top-flight racing – and Christie were unable to find their way around Schlosser/Krieg and ended the race five points adrift of the by now former champions in the contest for the silver medal.
Determined to sign off with a champions’ performance, Payne/Rousseau led the field from the start of Sunday’s twenty-one-lap Main race ahead of Peugeot/Peugeot, the Christie brothers and Schlosser/Krieg.
However, at the end of lap one Schlosser/Krieg span into a gravel trap and although they kept going there was significant damage to their outfit’s bodywork and two laps later, when the safety car came out after Peugeot/Peugeot had crashed, the Swiss racer – FIM Sidecar World Champion Rider in 2021 – steered into the pits and did not return.
This handed third to five-time FIM Sidecar World Champion Rider Päivärinta and Christie from Australian brothers Corey and Danyon Turner (ARS Yamaha) who have been building confidence in their debut year in the series and equalled their season-best finish of sixth in the opening race.
When the safety car pulled off, Payne/Rousseau immediately set about restoring their advantage and wasted little time in establishing a lead that at one point was over ten seconds before the Christie brothers – who were looking good for series silver in second – reduced it to a little over eight-and-a-half seconds when the chequered flag came out.
Less than half-a-second further back, Päivärinta/Christie came home in third to secure the bronze medal with the Turner brothers clearly delighted with a career-best finish of fourth ahead of the German/French pairing of Patrick Werkstetter (ARS Yamaha) and Valentin Pirat.
Full coverage of rounds three, five and six of the 2026 FIM Sidecar World Championship – along with behind-the-scenes footage, interviews and expert analysis – are available on FIM-MOTO TV.
