Harry Payne and Rousseau are the winners of the FIM/IDM Sidecar sprint race at the Red Bull Ring. Despite the soaking wet track, the pair pushed their bike to the absolute limit and secured their first World Championship victory.
Due to heavy rain, the start was postponed by an hour, as the forecast predicted better weather. This worked out particularly well for Harry Payne and Kevin Rousseau (Steinhausen Racing/ARS Yamaha), for whom Saturday’s sprint race couldn’t have gone better. Right after the start, they moved up from second place to take the lead and pulled away. From that point on, they confidently held onto the lead and ultimately secured their first victory in the World Championship. “Our focus was on controlling the race, staying focused, and not making any unnecessary mistakes,” said Harry Payne, explaining the strategy he successfully executed.
An unnecessary mistake might have cost the British rider the victory, as Tim Reeves and Mark Wilkes (Team Bonovo Action Team/ARS Yamaha) were lurking right behind them. After some issues in qualifying, they started the race from eighth position. After a spectacular pass on Pekka Päivärinta and Ilse de Haas (Team Bonovo Action Team/LCR Yamaha), they were already in second place after just two laps. Even though Reeves was riding at the limit, he was unable to catch the leaders, Payne and Rousseau. “We were close to catching them, but then I made a few small mistakes, which is why it wasn’t enough in the end,” Tim Reeves said about the race. With their hard-fought second-place finish, they achieved their best result of the season so far.
Päivärinta/De Haas finished in third place. They had already demonstrated during qualifying that even rain couldn’t affect their performance—and that was evident in the race as well. “We got off to a strong start and were able to maintain a good pace throughout the race,” Ilse de Haas commented afterward.
Ben and Tom Birchall (Wyckham Blackwell by Birchall) secured fourth place after a hard-fought battle with Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clément (Team Ellis/Clement/LCR Yamaha). Although the latter pair dominated the practice sessions, they were unable to keep up with the leaders in today’s race and finished in fifth place.
In the IDM standings, Ted Peugeot and Vincent Peugeot (Seventy-Four Racing Team/LCR Yamaha) dominated the field, followed by Rupert Archer and Adam Christie (Hannafing Racing/LCR Yamaha) and Max Zimmermann and Ronja Mahl (Zimmermann Racing/ARS Yamaha).
The main race on Sunday at the Red Bull Ring is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. and can be watched for free via live stream at www.idm.de/live.
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Harry Payne and Rousseau are the winners of the FIM/IDM sidecar sprint race at the Red Bull Ring. Despite a soaking wet track, the two made the most of the race and secured their first world championship victory.
Saturday’s sprint race couldn’t have gone better. Due to heavy rain, the start was delayed by an hour as the forecasts predicted better weather. This worked out especially well for Harry Payne and Kevin Rousseau (Steinhausen Racing/ARS Yamaha), for whom Saturday’s sprint race couldn’t have gone better. Immediately after the start, they took the lead from second place and pulled away. From then on, they never let up and ultimately secured their first victory in the world championship. “Our focus was on controlling the race, staying concentrated, and not making any unnecessary mistakes,” said Harry Payne, explaining the strategy he successfully executed.
An unnecessary mistake may also have cost the Brit the victory, as Tim Reeves and Mark Wilkes (Team Bonovo Action Team/ARS Yamaha) were hot on the heels of the pair. After experiencing some issues in qualifying, they started the race from eighth position. Following a spectacular pass on Pekka Päivärinta and Ilse de Haas (Team Bonovo Action Team/LCR Yamaha), they had already moved up to second place after just two laps. Despite pushing to the limit, Reeves was unable to catch up with the leaders Payne/Rousseau. “We were close to catching them, but then I made a few small mistakes, which is why it wasn’t enough in the end,” Tim Reeves said of the race. With their second-place finish, they achieved their best result so far this season.
Päivärinta/De Haas finished third. They had already shown during qualifying that even rain couldn’t affect their performance—and this was evident in the race as well. “We got off to a strong start and were able to maintain a good pace throughout the race,” Ilse de Haas said afterward.
Ben and Tom Birchall (Wyckham Blackwell by Birchall) secured fourth place after a hard-fought battle with Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clément (Team Ellis/Clément/LCR Yamaha). Although the latter dominated the practice sessions, they were unable to keep up with the leaders in today’s race and finished fifth.
Sunday’s main race at the Red Bull Ring is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. and can be watched for free via a live stream at www.idm.de/live.
Sidecar World Championship, Sprint Race:
- Harry PAYNE/Kevin ROUSSEAU (GBR/FRA)
- Tim Reeves/Mark Wilkes (GBR)
- Pekka PÄIVÄRINTA/Ilse DE HAAS (FIN/NLD)
- Ben BIRCHALL/Tom BIRCHALL (GBR)
- Todd ELLIS/Emmanuelle CLEMENT (GBR/FRA)
- Stephen KERSHAW/Ryan CHARLWOOD (GBR)
- Sam CHRISTIE/Tom CHRISTIE (GBR)
- Ted PEUGEOT/Vincent PEUGEOT (FRA)
- Bennie STREUER/Kevin KÖLSCH (Netherlands/Germany)
- John HOLDEN/Jermaine MIDDEGAAL (GBR/NLD)
IDM Sidecar, Sprint Race:
- Ted PEUGEOT/Vincent PEUGEOT (FRA)
- Rupert ARCHER/Adam CHRISTIE (GBR)
- Max ZIMMERMANN/Ronja MAHL (GER)