Payne and Rousseau extend FIM Sidecar World Championship lead at Assen – fim-moto.com

 
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Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme

News
09/21/2026
With the fastest time in Qualification and both race wins, Harrison Payne (ARS Yamaha) and Kevin Rousseau dominated round five of the 2026 FIM Sidecar World Championship at the TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands, stretching their advantage to twenty-five-and-a-half points with just one round remaining on the calendar.
Finishing second to the British/French pairing in both the points-scoring Sprint and Main races, defending champions Sam and Thomas Christie (LCR Yamaha) from Britain kept their title hopes alive as they pulled level in the standings with Pekka Päivärinta (ARS Yamaha) and Adam Christie who recorded a three-four scorecard. 
However, both chasing crews know Payne/Rousseau can put the championship out of reach with a win in the first race at the final round at Oschersleben in Germany at the start of next month and with six victories from the ten races staged so far this season, the 2024 champions are in pole position to regain the crown.
After topping Qualification by just 0.136 from Päivärinta/Christie, Payne/Rousseau took full advantage of their grid position to lead into the first corner of Sunday morning’s ten-lap Sprint race ahead of the Finnish/British pairing, the Christie brothers and the French son and father team of Ted and Vincent Peugeot (LCR Yamaha).
With the Peugeots forced out on lap five with mechanical issues, the top three crews were left out on their own ahead of a fierce battle between the German/French pairing of Patrick Werkstetter (ARS Yamaha) and Valentin Pirat, Dutch racers Bennie Streuer (ARS Yamaha) and Manon Viseenberg and the Swiss/German team of Markus Schlosser (LCR Yamaha) and Lucas Kreig.
At the flag it was Payne/Rousseau by just over five-and-a-half seconds from the Christie brothers with Päivärinta/Christie under a second behind in third. Werkstetter/Pirat were a season-best fourth with Schlosser/Krieg making a last-lap pass on Streuer/Viseenberg for fifth.
The afternoon’s sixteen-lap Main race saw Payne/Rousseau once again lead into the first turn, this time chased by Peugeot/Peugeot, Päivärinta/Christie, the Christie brothers and Britain’s Lewis Blackstock (LCR Yamaha) and Oscar Lawrence.
After passing their way up to second, the Christie brothers attempted to close down the leading crew, but Payne/Rousseau were cruising at the front and looking in complete control as they pulled away to win by over twelve-and-a-half seconds.
The gap behind the Christie brothers back to third was also sizeable with Blackstock/Lawrence and Päivärinta/Christie exchanging multiple passes in the closing laps and Peugeot/Peugeot – who had been given a long lap penalty – continuing to close.
On the last lap, Päivärinta/Christie made a pass for third through the final chicane, but were adjudged to have gained an unfair advantage from their overtaking manoeuvre and docked a position, handing third to Blackstock/Lawrence with Peugeot/Peugeot taking fifth.
Competitors now face a nervous two-week wait before the 2026 FIM Sidecar World Championship is decided at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben in Germany on 2-4 October.
Full results
Watch the Oschersleben finale live on FIM-MOTO.TV.
FIM Sidecar World Championship information
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