Ellis/Clément after serious crash: “We don’t yet know what the future holds”

The third weekend of the Sidecar World Championship brought back old memories for Emmanuelle Clément, as she had competed several times on the winding mountain track at Pau Arnos at the start of her illustrious career as a passenger. For her pilot, however, it was his debut on the 3.030-kilometre-long tarmac strip in south-west France.

“After two and a half days’ driving, we finally arrived at the circuit. The summer heat was clearly noticeable and pitching our tent really made us work up a sweat. After a tasty snack, we studied the beautiful, undulating track layout, which reminded Todd of the circuits in his home country,” said Clément.

The British-French pair quickly got to grips with the challenging track, featuring six left-hand and seven right-hand bends. It was only at the very last moment that they were pipped to fifth place on the grid by Markus Schlosser and Lucas Krieg by a few thousandths of a second. No problem for the two-time world champions, who are renowned for their strong starts.

With an air temperature of 34 degrees, Ellis and Clément got off to a good start in the sprint race. Behind the World Championship leaders Harry Payne and Kevin Rousseau, the Rijeka winners Pekka Päivärinta and Adam Christie, and the reigning world champions Sam and Tom Christie, they settled into fourth place, which they managed to hold onto right up to the chequered flag.

In Sunday’s main race, the pair managed an even better start and were briefly in third place, but then had to let the Christie brothers take the lead. In an attempt not to lose touch, Ellis took too much of a risk in the chicane after the start and finish line, resulting in a terrifying crash.

The live broadcast camera had captured the footage. Clément was thrown from the sidecar and came to rest on the grass beside the track after rolling over countless times. Ellis initially landed on his back before the sidecar, heavily damaged, came to a halt back on its wheels.

Emmanuelle Clément kann nach dem Unfall schon wieder lachen

Foto: Facebook/Clément

“Unfortunately, we made a mistake in the first corner on the fifth lap,” recalls Clément of the crash, which not only left eyewitnesses breathless but also brought the race to an end. “The sidecar went into a skid; Todd did try to prevent the crash whilst travelling at over 170 km/h, but it was too late.”

“Todd is very tough and came through it completely unscathed, which is incredible. After all my somersaults, I didn’t end up with any broken bones – just burns on my forearms and hands, a few cuts on my fingers and lots of bruises. Our sidecar is badly damaged and we don’t yet know what will happen next. There’s a lot to think about now.”

Results, Sidecar World Championship, Pau Arnos, 20 June 2026

Results, Sidecar World Championship, Pau Arnos, 21 June 2026

World Championship standings after six of twelve races