Le Mans: Payne/Rousseau wins ahead of Schlosser/Schmidt/Sidecar World Championship

Side teams were allowed to start their first race at Le Mans after half an hour’s delay. Much to his surprise, Markus Schlosser, who had to do without his co-driver Marcel Fries at the last minute and found a good replacement for Luca Schmidt, had a good chance in his comeback. Harry Payne/Kevin Rousseau (Steinhausen Racing) and defending champions Todd Ellis/Emmanuelle Clément completed the front row.

Payne/Rousseau took command in the first sector of the first lap. With two quick laps they were able to quickly extend their lead to over four seconds. From round 3 onwards, last year’s fifth place finishers controlled the field from the front. After eleven laps at the 4.185 km Circuit Bugatti, where the French Motorcycle Grand Prix will take place at the beginning of May, Payne/Rousseau raced across the finish line with a comfortable lead of almost five seconds.

Schlosser/Schmidt, who were the fastest team on the course in the middle of the race, came second. The Swiss and his German co-driver were able to leave Ellis/Clément well behind them. The defending world champions were unsuccessful and were a thankless fourth with two laps to go, but benefited from the retirement of Swiss Lukas Wyssen and his French co-driver Ema Salmon (Gustoil Sidecar Racing Team).

Sam Christie/Tom Christie (Hannafin Racing) missed out on the podium by less than half a second. Finn Pekka Päivärinta, who was with Adam Christie for the first time – he is the brother of Sam and Tom Christie – also had a good chance of third place for a long time.

The battle for the top spot for the French team in their home race went to father-son Ted and Vincent Peugeot (Race Seventy-Four), who were able to overtake Paul Leglise/Marjorie Cescutti (Team Race 521) in the four. . In 6th and 7th place, they crossed the finish line separated by just 0.281 seconds and relegated Dutch-German duo Bennie Streuer/Kevin Kölsch, who had been in sixth place for a long time, to eighth place.

The Germans Lennard Göttlich/Lucas Krieg (Bonovo stage youth team) were quite happy with ninth place. They clearly left more experienced teams such as Robert Biggs/Ferry Segers (Express Tire Service Santander Salt) and Rupert Archer/Ruben Janssens (Hannafin Racing) behind. The final championship points went to Paul and Tom Kirby, Kevin Cable/Charlie Richardson (K&W Racing) and local legends Claude Vinet/Leané Marsal and Philippe Le Bail/Serge Leveau (Auto Moto Team).

Results, Le Mans, Race 1
1. Payne/Rousseau (GB/F), ARS Yamaha, 11 laps in 19:09.260 minutes 2. Schlosser/Schmidt (CH/D), LCR Yamaha, 4.933 seconds to. 3. Ellis/Clément (GB/F), LCR Yamaha, +11.798 sec. 4. Christie/Christie (GB), LCR Yamaha. 5. Päivärinta/Christie (FIN/GB), ARS Yamaha. 6. Peugeot/Peugeot (F), LCR Yamaha. 7. Leglise/Cescutti (F), LCR Yamaha. 8. Streuer/Kölsch (NL/D), ARS Yamaha. 9. Divine/War (D), ARS Yamaha. 10. Biggs/Segers (GB/NL), LCR Yamaha. 11. Archer/Janssens (GB/B), ARS Yamaha. 12. Kirby/Kirby (GB), ARS Yamaha. 13. Cable/Richardson (GB), LCR Yamaha. 14. C. Vinet/Marsal (F), LCR Yamaha. 15. Le Bail/Leveau (F), LCR Yamaha. 16. Fretay/Fenoy (F/P), LCR Yamaha. 17. C. Vinet/G. Vinet (F), LCR Yamaha. 18. Gallerne/Colombin (F), RCN Kawasaki. 19. Gadet/Chaigneau (F), LCR Kawasaki. Fastest lap: Payne/Rousseau, 1:43.848 minutes.