FIM Sidecar: Victory for Schlosser, Sudden Stop for Payne

Le Mans demonstrated once again just how quickly things can change in motorsports—often, only a few kilometers separate triumph from disappointment.

For Harry Payne and Kevin Rousseau (Steinhausen Racing/ARS Yamaha), the weekend had gotten off to a promising start. Pole position, a commanding victory in the first race—everything pointed to more success to come.

The engine failure came out of the blue

After a formation lap was cut short due to debris on the track and a lengthy delay, race officials shortened the sidecar main race at Le Mans to twelve laps in order to stay on schedule for the 24-hour event. But no sooner had Payne and Rousseau started than the favorite duo was forced to retire early. Technical problems forced them to retire after just a few hundred meters. “We had engine trouble,” Harry Payne explained later. The team had already had to partially disassemble the engine the night before due to a protest from a rival team. “Unfortunately, there was no warm-up before the race today to run it in again,” Payne added. Hopes for a one-two finish at the season opener were thus dashed early on.

World Cup lead despite initial setbacks

Markus Schlosser and Luca Schmidt (Team Schlosser/LCR Yamaha) took the lead and held on to it until the checkered flag. After initial technical problems in the unofficial and first free practice sessions, the weekend still ended on a successful note for the World Championship runners-up. “On Wednesday, our engine had already broken down on the first lap, and the next day we were once again struggling with technical issues,” explained Luca Schmidt. The team did everything in its power to get the difficulties under control—with success. “This weekend, we secured a second-place finish, a victory, and the World Championship lead. We’re heading home feeling very satisfied,” Schmidt summarized the events.

Behind them, British brothers Sam and Tom Christie (Hannafin/LCR Yamaha) quickly took second place from Pekka Päivärinta and Adam Christie (Hänni Racing/ARS Yamaha). But the veteran Finnish rider fought his way back and launched the decisive attack on the final lap—securing second place as a late consolation after retiring the day before.

Werkstetter was a few km/h short

Just the night before, Patrick Werkstetter (Team Bonovo Action/Sattler Motorsport/ARS Yamaha) had cautiously told IDM.de that he intended to target the father-son duo of Ted and Vincent Peugeot (Seventy Four Racing Team/LCR Yamaha) in the main race. The two Frenchmen, who had also won the IDM championship in the past two years, seemed within his reach this weekend, as Werkstetter himself emphasized. In the second race, Werkstetter put his words into action, and a thrilling battle ensued between the two teams. In the end, however, the Bavarian lacked that final bit of luck, and Peugeot secured seventh place by a hair’s breadth ahead of Werkstetter/Pirat.

The season opener also went well for Lennard Göttlich and Lucas Krieg. The German duo put in a solid performance, finishing eighth in the first race and rounding out the top 10 with a tenth-place finish in the main race.

The first two races this weekend were already intense: The FIM Sidecar World Championship kicked off the season with plenty of excitement both on and off the track—no warm-up period for the fans. The next clash of the titans won’t be long in coming, as the next round takes place this coming weekend in Estoril, Portugal.

Results of the FIM Sidecar World Championship, Race 2