There’s no shortage of good ideas in the Sidecar World Championship

There isn’t a single team in the Sidecar World Championship that has it all made. With a great deal of personal effort and the help of a handful of friends, the sidecar is constantly being worked on to ensure it remains at the cutting edge of technology. Added to this are a few loyal sponsors who contribute to covering the enormous costs of this year’s season, comprising six events, each featuring two races.

Cost-cutting was therefore the top priority when the FIM took over the series. Firstly, the cost-intensive live stream was discontinued last year; subsequently, in consultation with the teams, it was decided that only one qualifying session would take place and that only two sets of tyres could be used for this and the two races.

Step 3, devised by ‘Sidecar Partners’ Michael Breitenbach and Eckart Rösinger to make the World Championship more attractive, was a significant reduction in the entry fee from 800 to 550 euros, achieved through the involvement of series sponsor Marin. All these changes had the desired effect, with the number of participants rising significantly in 2026.

Bei jedem Event findet bei B&R Reifenservice die Verlosung statt

Foto: Helmut Ohner

And because the ideas keep coming, there was a positive surprise for the teams at the season opener in Le Mans. As the price of a set of tyres is no less than 1,000 euros excluding VAT, a tyre is raffled off at every event on the initiative of Albert Raesfeld, the driving force behind B&R Reifenservice. In France, it was the Finn Pekka Päivärinta whose name was drawn from the hat; in Rijeka, the German Markus Venus was the lucky winner.