After a two-month hiatus, the FIM Sidecar World Championship is back from its summer break. The sidecars last competed in June in Most, Czech Republic—with a one-two finish for Markus Schlosser and Luca Schmidt (Team Schlosser) and a bitter setback for Harry Payne and Kevin Rousseau (Steinhausen Racing), whose second race ended early due to engine trouble.
And just as nerve-wracking as the last race weekend had ended for the reigning champions, things continued that way for the Steinhausen Racing Team on Friday’s practice sessions. Already in the first free practice session, Payne had to pull the sidecar out of action early. Between FP1 and the first qualifying session, the team pulled off a veritable marathon of mechanical work: out with the engine, in with a new one—and back in action just in time for Q1. The effort paid off. With a lap time of 1:45.180 minutes, Payne and Rousseau catapulted themselves straight to the top of the timesheets. The race against the clock was won.
Sam and Tom Christie (Team Hannafin) took second place. Already in the first free practice session, the British brothers were in second place with a time of 1:46.645—though they were still more than a second behind Payne/Rousseau. In Q1, they stepped it up, improving their time by exactly one second to 1:45.645 and closing in dangerously on the fastest time.
Pekka Päivärinta and Adam Christie (Hänni Racing) secured provisional third place, trailing the Christies by a razor-thin margin of just 0.008 seconds. After five laps, they ended qualifying early to conserve their equipment.
For Markus Schlosser and Luca Schmidt, however, Friday was still a tough day. After the long break, the Swiss duo noticeably lacked momentum on the challenging course. In the end, they finished in fourth place, followed by Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clément (Team Ellis/Clement Racing) and Paul Leglise and Marjorie Cescutti (521 Competition).
The standout performer of the day was Bennie Streuer (Streuer Racing), who made a guest appearance in the Sidecar World Championship on his home track. With his new passenger, Manon Vissenberg, he finished in seventh place. Behind them were Patrick Werkstetter/Valentin Pirat and Rupert Archer/Ondrej Sedlacek. Paul Kirby and his young passenger Ema Salmon (KRT) rounded out the top 10.
FIM Sidecar World Championship Results, Qualifying 1
- Harry Payne/Kevin Rousseau (GB/F), ARS Yamaha
- Sam Christie/Tom Christie (GB), LCR Yamaha
- Pekka Päivärinta/Adam Christie (FIN/GB), ARS Yamaha
- Markus Schlosser/Luca Schmidt (CH/D), LCR Yamaha
- Todd Ellis/Emmanuelle Clément (GB/F), LCR Yamaha
- Paul Leglise/Marjorie Cescutti (F), LCR Yamaha
- Benni Streuer/Manon Vissenberg (NLD/CGE), ARS Yamaha
- Patrick Werkstetter/Valentin Pirat (GER/FRA), ARS Yamaha
- Rupert Archer/Ondrej Sedlacek (GB/CZ), ARS Yamaha
- Paul Kirby/Emal Salmon (GBR/FRA), ARS Yamaha
- Kevin Cable/Charlie Richardson (GB), LCR Yamaha
- Wiggert Kranenburg/Kevin Kölsch (NLD/GER), LCR Yamaha
- Raymon Lejdekkers/Calvin Leijdekkers (NLD), LCR Yamaha
——–English——-
After a two-month hiatus, the FIM Sidecar World Championship is back from its summer break. The sidecars last raced in June in Most, Czech Republic, with a one-two finish for Markus Schlosser and Luca Schmidt (Team Schlosser) and a disappointing retirement for Harry Payne and Kevin Rousseau (Steinhausen Racing), whose second race ended early due to engine failure.
And as nerve-wracking as the last race weekend ended for the reigning champions, things continued in the same vein for the Steinhausen Racing team on Friday’s practice day. Payne had to retire the sidecar early on in the first free practice session. Between FP1 and the first qualifying session, the team pulled off a veritable marathon of work: engine out, new engine in—and ready to go again in time for Q1. The effort paid off. With a lap time of 1:45.180 minutes, Payne and Rousseau catapulted themselves straight to the top of the timesheets. They had won the race against the clock.
Sam and Tom Christie (Team Hannafin) took second place. The British brothers were already in second place in the first free practice session with a time of 1:46.645—but still more than a second behind Payne/Rousseau. In Q1, they stepped up their game, improving by exactly one second to 1:45.645 and thus coming dangerously close to the best time.
Pekka Päivärinta and Adam Christie (Hänni Racing) secured provisional third place by a razor-thin margin of just 0.008 seconds behind the Christies. After five laps, they ended qualifying early to conserve their equipment.
For Markus Schlosser and Luca Schmidt, however, Friday was still a tough day. After the long break, the Swiss duo clearly lacked momentum on the demanding track. In the end, they finished fourth, followed by Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clément (Team Ellis/Clement Racing) and Paul Leglise and Marjorie Cescutti (521 Competition).
A special highlight of the day: Bennie Streuer (Streuer Racing), who made a guest appearance in the Sidecar World Championship on his home track. With his new passenger, Manon Vissenberg, he finished in seventh place. Behind them were Patrick Werkstetter and Valentin Pirat, and Rupert Archer and Ondrej Sedlacek. Paul Kirby and his young co-pilot, Ema Salmon (KRT), rounded out the top 10.