Dramatic scenes as Harry Payne and Kevin Rousseau claimed victory at Oschersleben

What looked on Saturday like a controlled ride by Harry Payne and Kevin Rousseau turned out, in hindsight, to be a ride on a knife-edge. Damage had already become apparent by the halfway point of the sprint race. The Brit initially thought he’d had a puncture, but couldn’t see anything wrong and simply carried on. By the finish, however, his lead had shrunk to less than two seconds. A post-race inspection revealed damage to a bearing.

In Sunday’s main race, 17 teams lined up at the start once again. As on the previous day, the start went off without a hitch. Payne/Rousseau (Steinhausen Racing) took the lead ahead of Ted and Vincent Peugeot (Seventy Four Racing), Sam and Tom Christie (CES Performance), Markus Schlosser/Lucas Krieg (Gustoil Sidecar Racing) and Pekka Päivärinta/Adam Christie (Hänni Racing).

Beim Start zum Hauptrennen war noch alles in Ordnung

Foto: Helmut Ohner

But in lap 2, drama unfolded. Schlosser/Krieg spun out immediately in front of Päivärinta/Christie, resulting in contact. Whilst the Finnish-British duo were lucky in their misfortune and were able to continue the race without damage, the Swiss rider’s sidecar had its front end torn off. Although he managed to complete one more lap, he was then forced to head for the pits and retire.

Just one lap later, the pace car was deployed. Ted Peugeot had lost sight of his father, Vincent, at the Hotel bend, and Vincent had to receive brief medical attention in the gravel trap. As a result, the field bunched up again, comprising Payne/Rousseau, Christie/Christie, Päivärinta/Christie, Corey Turner/Danyon Turner (52 Motorsport), Patrick Werkstetter/Valentin Pirat (Sattler Motorsport/Bonovo Action) and Thomas Eder/Kevin Kölsch.

Vincent Peugeot bleibt bei seinem Sturz aus dem Gespann gottlob unverletzt

Foto: Helmut Ohner

Once the race was given the go-ahead again, Payne/Rousseau were quickly able to pull away from their pursuers. The British-French pair, who were racing with helmets painted in neutral colours – adorned with the signatures of all team members – were determined to give it their all once more and beat the lap record they had set the previous day, though they were unable to do so.

Although Päivärinta risked everything right up to the final bend, he was unable to displace the Christie brothers from second place. Nevertheless, the five-time world champion from Finland was not dissatisfied with the result; after all, he was able to receive his 14th World Championship medal after the race. For his British co-driver, it was the first of his career.

The three-way battle for fourth place proved thrilling. The Turner brothers were under constant pressure from Werkstetter/Pirat and Eder/Kölsch and had to be extremely careful not to be forced into making a mistake. However, the Australians managed to defend this position. They thus bring to a close a successful season in which they travelled back and forth between their home country and Europe five times to boost their tally.

Die stolzen Turner-Eltern mit Corey (2.v.l.) und Danyon

Foto: Helmut Ohner

Werkstetter and Eder crossed the finish line in fifth and sixth place respectively. Bennie Streuer, with passenger Manon Vissenberg, finished the final race in seventh place. Wiggert Kranenburg – the son-in-law of former sidecar racer and current boss of the International Sidecar Trophy, Eckart Rösinger – finished eighth, ahead of Kevin Cable/Yann Druel and Michael Brillault/Fabrice Deturche.

Results, Sidecar World Championship, Main Race, Oschersleben, 4 October 2026

World Championship standings after 12 races