After a turbulent season opener at Le Mans, the teams in the 2025 FIM Sidecar World Championship are back in action with little time to catch their breath: This weekend, the second round awaits in Estoril, Portugal—located about 25 kilometers west of Lisbon—with 13 teams competing, and excitement is once again guaranteed.
Schlosser/Schmidt Take the Lead in the World Championship with the Wind at Their Backs
Markus Schlosser and Luca Schmidt (Team Schlosser/LCR Yamaha) are heading to Portugal as the new World Championship leaders. After a strong second-place finish in the sprint race and a commanding victory in the shortened main race at Le Mans, the Swiss driver and his German co-driver have not only posted strong results but have already made an early statement with a new lap record. Their new chassis seems to be working, and the speed is there. The disappointment of narrowly losing the World Championship title at the grand finale in November 2024 seems to have been put behind them, and they are ready for the new title fight.
But their lead is far from comfortable: British brothers Sam and Tom Christie (Hannafin Racing/LCR Yamaha) have secured third place on the podium twice and are currently in second place overall.
For Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clément, the start of the season was solid, though not quite what they had hoped for. While two fourth-place finishes earned them valuable points, they narrowly missed the podium on both days. However, the 2022 and 2023 world champion duo will likely aim for better results to avoid falling behind early on. After the season opener, they are in third place in the overall standings.
Defending champions Payne and Rousseau are looking to redeem themselves
For reigning world champions Harry Payne and Kevin Rousseau (Steinhausen Racing/ARS Yamaha), the season opener was an emotional rollercoaster. After securing pole position and a commanding victory in the opening race, they were forced to retire early in the main event due to engine failure—ironically, just after their engine had to be dismantled the day before following a protest by an opponent. The retirement in the main race cost them crucial points and dropped them to fourth place in the overall standings. In Estoril, the pair are expected to return to the track highly motivated, with one goal in mind: to win and make up ground in the standings.
The experienced Finnish rider Pekka Päivärinta (Hänni Racing/ARS Yamaha), who is once again riding with British passenger Adam Christie this season, has five FIM Sidecar World Championship titles to his name. But despite his years of experience, he had bad luck at the start of the sprint race in France: He spun out, causing him to be involved in an incident with the British brothers Sam and Jack Laidlow (Team Laidlow/LCR Yamaha). Both teams were forced to retire early. The second race, however, went much better for the 54-year-old and ended with a second-place finish on the podium.
Reeves and Werkstetter: Potential Not Yet Fully Realized
Tim Reeves and Mark Wilkes (Carl Cox Motorsport/ARS Yamaha) finished in the top five with two fifth-place finishes, but so far the British duo has lacked the pace needed to compete at the very front.
Patrick Werkstetter and Valentin Pirat (Team Bonovo Action/Sattler Motorsport/ARS Yamaha) could spring another surprise at Estoril: Despite rolling their bike during qualifying, the German-French duo finished in the points twice at Le Mans—and are now aiming for a top-6 finish.
Bennie Streuer (Team Streuer/ARS Yamaha), however, will not be competing. The veteran Dutch rider surprisingly announced his retirement from the World Championship at Le Mans.
Everything's on – free livestream
The FIM Sidecar World Championship is already in full swing, and with sunny weather forecast for this coming weekend, it promises to be just as exciting as the season opener.
The races can also be streamed live and for free at www.fim-moto.tv/superside_wc. Both races will take place on Sunday. Coverage of the sprint race begins at 11:15 a.m. The main race will follow at 3:55 p.m.