The break is over: After a two-month hiatus, the Sidecar World Championship finally resumes this weekend in Assen. British rider Harry Payne has been counting down the weeks, days, and hours until today. For him, the time away from racing seemed endless. “I can’t wait to finally get back on the track,” said the Steinhausen Racing Team rider on Thursday, full of 
motivated. But even before the first free practice sessions began on Friday morning, Payne was treated to a touching surprise: his father had arrived on Thursday evening and showed up at the pit completely out of the blue. “At first, I was completely shocked and didn’t know what to say,” Harry Payne described the emotional moment when he suddenly saw his father.
Father and son hadn’t seen each other in more than four months, since Harry Payne had moved from England to the Netherlands at the beginning of the year. “We talk on the phone regularly, but of course it’s become harder to meet in person now,” explained his father, Greg Payne, for whom traveling is particularly challenging because he uses a wheelchair.
For the father, this is also the first time he’ll be able to watch his son race live in the sidecar of the Steinhausen Racing Team at the World Championship.
Harry Payne is certainly highly motivated, and his father’s visit has undoubtedly fueled his ambition even further. “A win could be in the cards this weekend,” Payne said as early as Thursday, before he found out about the surprise. With the added support from his family, that goal now seems even more within reach.