Reigning champions Harrison Payne (ARS Yamaha) and Kevin Rousseau extended their advantage at the front of the 2025 FIM Sidecar World Championship with another overall victory – their fourth of the season – as the series made a repeat visit to the famous TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands for round six last weekend (20-21 September).

• FIM Sidecar World Championship returns to Assen for round six
• Defending champions Harrison Payne and Kevin Rousseau extend series lead
• British brothers Sam and Thomas Christie consolidate second in series

The British/French pairing have been the dominant force in this year’s championship, but a mechanical DNF at the opening round at Le Mans and a second no-score due to a technical issue at round four at Most have prevented them from breaking free from the chasing pack and, as a result, their series lead stands at twenty-three points with just next month’s final round at Oschersleben in Germany left on the calendar.

 
Giving a good indication of how close the racing was going to be in the ‘Cathedral of Speed’, just 0.127 covered the first three crews in qualifying with British brothers Sam and Thomas Christie (LCR Yamaha) – who sit second in the standings – on top chased by the Swiss/German pairing of Markus Schlosser (LCR Yamaha) and Luca Schmidt with Payne/Rousseau third.

 
With the track still wet following a huge downpour, Schlosser/Schmidt led Saturday’s ten-lap Sprint race into the opening turn from Payne/Rousseau and the Christie brothers, but an early spin in the chicane by the leaders dropped them back to seventh, handing the advantage to the defending champions.

 
Hugely experienced Finnish rider Pekka Päivärinta (ARS Yamaha) – with Adam Christie, the third of the Christie brothers in action, in the chair – was revelling in the wet conditions and after passing the Christie brothers he turned his attention to Payne/Rousseau. The British pairing of Lewis Blackstock (LCR Yamaha) and Oscar Lawrence – who were making their second championship appearance this season as wild cards – also moved into contention after passing the Christie brothers.

Following a decisive pass for the lead, Päivärinta/Christie cruised clear to win by almost eight seconds from Payne/Rousseau with Blackstock/Lawrence third ahead of the Christie brothers and Britain’s Sam and Jack Laidlow (LCR Yamaha) with Schlosser/Schmidt unable to advance from seventh.

 
With the sun shining for Sunday’s sixteen-lap Main race, Payne/Rousseau led from the start with Schlosser/Schmidt, the Christie brothers, Blackstock/Lawrence, former champions Todd Ellis (Yamaha) and Emmanuelle Clement and Päivärinta/Christie in pursuit.

 
Carrying momentum from the previous day, Päivärinta/Christie moved up to fourth with the British/French pairing of Ellis/Clement following them past Blackstock/Lawrence, but the wild cards fought their way back into podium contention.

 
In the closing stages Schlosser/Schmidt got close enough to attempt a pass on Payne/Rousseau for the lead, although ran wide which allowed the Christie brothers through into second and the positions remained unchanged until the chequered flag came out.

 
Blackstock/Lawrence were a solid fourth from Päivärinta/Christie with the Laidlow brothers sixth ahead of Ellis/Clement.

 
Focus now shifts to the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben in central Germany on 3-5 October for the seventh and concluding round.