Payne & Rousseau return to action at sidecar world championships

Duo battle mechanical issues to take some positive results

Manx sidecar racer Harry Payne and passenger Kevin Rousseau battled numerous challenges as they returned to the FIM Sidecar World Championship.

The Steinhausen Racing Team duo headed to Europe for rounds two and three of the competition with the first of those seeing them take on the Spa-Francorchamps track in Belgium.

Despite missing opening practice due to an electrical failure the team managed to return for Q1 and qualify for the race in sixth position.

Into the race itself and Payne and Rousseau managed to keep tabs on the podium-battling group for four laps before a mistake saw them drop back and eventually finish seventh.

They did, however, manage to go one better in race two to take sixth spot after fighting back from 12th following some in-race drama.

Next up in round three was the Czech Grand Prix at Most and during Q2 they put in a strong time to qualify third on the grid.

However, a mechanical problem meant Payne and Rousseau were unable to start and had to begin from the pitlane, eventually working their way to 14th come the finish line but afterwards they were told they didn't class as finishers as they didn't complete 75 per cent of the race.

But their fortunes changed in race two as a good start saw them battling for podium spots in third and despite being overhauled by the Christie Racing team on lap five, Payne and Rousseau would go on to take a strong fourth-place finish.

Next up for Payne and Rousseau would've been the fourth round of the French Sidecar Championship at Magny Cours which they currently lead, however they've previously confirmed they've withdrawn their entry for the event for the rest of the campaign due to financial constraints.

As a result, their next contest will be at the Redbull Ring in Austria on 6 August.