The World of Motorcycling- News detail

The 2026 FIM Sidecar World Championship moves into the second half of the season this coming weekend (7-9 August) and leading the field into round four at Cremona in the Lombardy region of Italy are 2024 champions Harrison Payne (ARS Yamaha) and Kevin Rousseau.

With this weekend’s event in Italy followed by the concluding two rounds in Assen in the Netherlands and Oschersleben in Germany, the British/French pairing hold a narrow eleven-and-a-half-point lead at the top of the standings and are aiming to extend this advantage in Cremona with the ultimate goal of regaining the coveted title. That 2024 crown came in the most dramatic of circumstances. Trailing Markus Schlosser and Luca Schmidt heading into the final round at Estoril in Portugal, a double victory gave them the title by just three points. “It was crazy,” said thirty-four-year-old Payne. “It was almost like we’d accepted second place. We were going to one of the tracks with the longest straights, our title rival had more speed than us and we were behind on points. We did everything we could before that weekend to the bike just to improve the top speed, regardless of handling. “As it was, we were able to fight with them. We didn’t quite have the same speed, but we were definitely able to reduce the deficit and we managed to win the first race so we knew if we won the second we would be world champions and we did it by fifty-three-thousandths-of-a-second. It was one of the closest finishes ever. It was really special.” Both Payne and Rousseau were destined to become racers with the thirty-three-year-old Frenchman – who hails from Le Mans, one of the world’s most legendary motorsport destinations – getting his start in sidecar racing first. “I started racing in 2013 on a solo machine,” explained Rousseau, “and came into sidecar racing in 2014 because one time I needed a part for the bike at a race and couldn’t find it in the solo paddock. So I took my bike to the sidecar paddock and the first guy helped me and, just as a joke, he said maybe when I had time I could do some laps to see if I liked it.”

That was the catalyst that triggered Rousseau’s interest, although he initially combined solo and sidecar racing. For Payne, a love of sidecars was more deep-seated. “I feel like I’ve always been involved with sidecars,” said Payne. “I used to go as a child to watch racing with my dad and I was only interested in the sidecars. It kind of became an obsession. I’ve never been one to follow the crowd and when I saw the sidecars I just wanted to do it.” Having spent much of his youth riding Trial and BMX, Payne was no stranger to holding onto a pair of handlebars and after starting racing sidecars as a passenger in 2015, in 2020 he moved across to take command of the motorcycle before making his FIM World Championship debut in 2021. By this point Rousseau was already an established star with an FIM bronze medal – achieved in 2016 alongside his compatriot Sébastien Delannoy – and on the back of Payne’s career-best finish of fifth in 2022, the pair teamed up at the start of 2023. “It’s funny how we came together,” said Payne. “In 2022 we were racing each other and we weren’t exactly the best of friends, but we became closer because we were both together with two sisters. At the end of the season I no longer had a passenger and Kevin and his driver were stopping so it made perfect sense that we should team up.” A fighting fifth in their first season together, the following year brought the world title and after narrowly losing it last season their 2026 mission is a simple one. “It would be super-special to get the title back and have the same feeling we had in 2024,” added Payne. “It’s a real privilege to see your name next to some of the past winners and I want that feeling back.” The action from Cremona gets under way with the twelve-lap Sprint race on Saturday (8 August) scheduled for 11:55 (local time) before the twenty-lap Main race is staged the following day at 11:45 (local time).

For more information on the 2026 FIM Sidecar World Championship click here.