# 2021 Sidecar World Championship

The 2021 Santander Salt FIM Sidecar World Championship was the 72nd season of the Sidecar World Championship. The championship was won by Markus Schlosser and Marcel Fries of Switzerland. The season was contested across seven rounds, six rounds consisting of two races, and the final round in Estoril with three races.
Tim Reeves and Mark Wilkes entered the season as the reigning Driver and Passenger Sidecar World Champions respectively having won the championship in 2019. The 2020 Sidecar World Championship was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

## Entries

The following teams and riders will be competing in the 2021 World Championship.
Teams and Riders due to compete in the 2021 World Championship :
| Team | Chassis | Engine | No. | Rider | Passenger |
| AMR | Adolf RS | Yamaha | 25 | Matt Maclaurin | Adrian Hope |
| Drugsadvies Sidecarshop Racing | LCR | Yamaha | 2 | Kees Endeveld | Hendrik Crome |
| Team FB Superside | LCR | Yamaha | 32 | Franck Barbier | Mickael Rigondeau |
| Team SLR | LCR | Yamaha | 72 | Scott Lawrie | Ilse de Haas |
| Cable Racing L&W Contractors Sidecar Team | LCR | Yamaha | 112 | Kevin Cable | Kyle Masters |
| Kershaw Racing | LCR | Yamaha | 29 | Stephen Kershaw | Ryan Charlwood |
| MRSC Gunskirchen | LCR | Yamaha | 11 | Peter Kimeswenger | Kevin Kölsch |
| Dave Holden Racing | LCR | Yamaha | 95 | Lewis Blackstock | Patrick Rosney |
| Santander Salt | LCR | Yamaha | 6 | Todd Ellis | Charlie 'Chaz' Richardson |
| Team Gallerne | RCN | Kawasaki | 7 | Philippe Gallerne | Yann Druel |
| Holden Racing | ARS | Yamaha | 3 | John Holden | Jason Pitt |
| FHC Competition | LCR | Yamaha | 78 | Hugo Fretay | Joaquim Fenoy Casas |
| Bonovo Action by MGM | Adolf RS | Yamaha | 21 | Bennie Streuer | Emmanuelle Clément |
| Bonovo Action by MGM | Adolf RS | Yamaha | 35 | Josef Sattler | Luca Schmidt |
| Bonovo Action by MGM | Adolf RS | Yamaha | 77 | Tim Reeves | Kevin Rousseau |
| Gustoil Sidecar Racing Team | LCR | Yamaha | 3 | Markus Schlosser | Marcel Fries |
| Gustoil Sidecar Racing Team | LCR | Yamaha | 41 | Lukas Wyssen | Thomas Hofer |
| Remse Racing | Adolf RS | Yamaha | 55 | Janez Remse | Manfred Wechselberger |
| Perillat and Peugeot Racing Team | LCR | Yamaha | 74 | Ted Peugeot | Vincent Peugeot |

### Team and Rider Changes

Superbike World Championship team, Bonovo Action by MGM Racing, will be making its Sidecar World Championship debut in 2021, fielding three bikes run by eight times World Champion Tim Reeves with passenger Kevin Rousseau; 2015 World Champion Bennie Streuer with new passenger, Emmanuel Clement and former Internationalen Deutschen Motorradmeisterschaft/Interessengemeinschaft Gespannrennen (IDM/IGG) Sidecar champion Josef Sattler with passenger Luca Schmidt.
Other teams scheduled to make their World Championship debut include AMR, Cable Racing L&W Contractors Sidecar Team, 2020 British F1 Sidecar Championship winning team, Kershaw Racing and 2020 International Sidecar SuperPrix winners Todd Ellis and Charlie 'Chaz' Richardson of Santander Salt.
Scott Lawrie is due to return to the championship in 2021 with former Bennie Streuer passenger, Ilse de Haas.

## Calendar

The 2021 calendar consisted of 7 rounds, each round consisting of 2 races of equal length.
| Round | Date | Country | Circuit |
| 1 | 11-12 June | France | Circuit Bugatti, Le Mans |
| 2 | 26-27 June | Hungary | Pannónia-Ring, Ostffyasszonyfa |
| 3 | 3-4 July | England | Donington Park, Castle Donington |
| 4 | 24-25 July | Netherlands | TT Circuit Assen, Assen |
| 5 | 21-22 July | Croatia | Automotodrom Grobnik, Rijeka |
| 6 | 2-3 October | Germany | Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, Oschersleben |
| 7 | 29-31 October | Portugal | Circuito do Estoril, Estoril |
The French round in Le Mans was part of the 2021 24 Heures Motos event with the FIM Endurance World Championship. The British (Donington Park) and Dutch rounds was part of the United Kingdom and Netherlands FIM Superbike World Championship events. The Second British round initially scheduled to take place from 15 to 17 October at Brands Hatch was to be part of the British Superbike finale event before it was cancelled. The Racing Commission made the decision to award double points for the final two races of the season to be held in Estoril on 29–31 October.

### Calendar changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic

The provisional 2021 season calendar was announced on 7 January 2021, with 8 rounds scheduled. This included two rounds with the FIM Endurance World Championship, the 24 Heures Motos and Bol d'Or events, an unconfirmed round on 23–25 April, but not the two Superbike World Championship events. On 9 February 2021 it was announced that the World Sidecar Championship would no longer be part of the 2021 Bol d'Or event due to a lack of sufficient track time and facilities as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated problems.

### Calendar expansions and changes from 2019 to 2021

The championship will return to Donington Park after a five-year absence. Along with Dutch round, this will be the first time since Spain 2014 that the World Sidecar Championship will be part of a Superbike World Championship round.
Similarly, the championship will return to Brands Hatch after a six-year absence, again, as part of a British Superbike event.
The Portuguese round at the Circuito do Estoril, made its debut as the final event of the 2019 championship and has been scheduled again as the final event in 2021.
The remaining four events of the 2021 calendar were all part of the 2019 championship.

## Championship changes

The 2020 World Championship was due to be the first organised and run by new series promoter, RKB-F1 Motorsport who was brought on by the FIM to run the World Championship after successfully running the British F1 Sidecar championship for several years. However, RKB-F1 Motorsport and the FIM were forced to cancel the 2020 World Championship due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 World Championship will be this first to be organised and run by RKB-F1 Motorsport.

### Race Weekend Structure

Previously the World Championship utilised two race formats; a Gold Race that was a minimum of 70 km (43.5 mi) and maximum of 85 km (52.8 mi) in length; and a Sprint Race that was a minimum of 35 km (21.7 mi) and maximum of 45 km (28 mi) in length. Rounds would then consist of either, a single Gold Race or both a Gold Race and a Sprint Race. For the 2021 World Championship each round will consist of two races of equal length that is a minimum of 7 0 km (43.5 mi) and maximum of 85 km (52.8 mi) in length.

### Sporting Regulations

The Sidecar World Championship will continue to use the MotoGP style points system, with points being awarded down to 15th place. For the final round of the 2021 World Champions the points allocated, for both races, will be multiplied by a factor of 1.5.

### Technical Regulations

Although not outlawed explicitly previously, the use of a Drive-By-Wire system has been confirmed as legal for the 2021 championship.

## Season Summary
### Pre-season

A number of the teams took part in five days of pre-season testing beginning on 22 March at the Circuit du Val de Vienne in France. Several teams also organised their own private tests as well as an official RKB-F1 Motorsport organised test at the Snetterton circuit in the UK over the weekend of 10 & 11 April 2021 for British based teams unable to travel to mainland Europe because of COVID-19 travel restrictions.
On 27 March During a French Superbike Championship Sidecar race at Le Mans, Josef Sattler with stand in passenger Ilse de Haas lost the bike under braking and crashed. Sattler injuring his collarbone and ribs, de Haas suffering concussion and broken ribs also.
On 9 April 2021 at a private test organised by the Bonovo Action by MGM team at Oschersleben, Streuer/Clément crashed heavily as a result of suspected suspension failure. After initial medical assistance at the circuit, Streuer was taken by Helicopter to hospital in near by Magdeburg. It was confirmed Streuer had broken a number of vertebrae in the crash and underwent surgery three days later. Clément was thrown into the air during the impact but did not suffer any significant injuries.

## Results and Standings
### Races

| Round | Location | Race | Pole Position | Fastest Lap | Winning Rider/Passenger | Winning Team | Winning chassis/constructor | Report |
| 1 | Circuit Bugatti | 1 | Markus Schlosser / Marcel Fries | Todd Ellis / Emmanuelle Clément | Tim Reeves / Kevin Rousseau | Team Bonovo Action | Adolf-RS-Yamaha | Report |
| 1 | Circuit Bugatti | 2 | Markus Schlosser / Marcel Fries | Markus Schlosser / Marcel Fries | Markus Schlosser / Marcel Fries | Gustoil Sidecar Racing Team | LCR-Yamaha | Report |
| 2 | Pannónia-Ring | 1 | Markus Schlosser / Marcel Fries | Markus Schlosser / Marcel Fries | Markus Schlosser / Marcel Fries | Gustoil Sidecar Racing Team | LCR-Yamaha | Report |
| 2 | Pannónia-Ring | 2 | Markus Schlosser / Marcel Fries | Tim Reeves / Kevin Rousseau | Tim Reeves / Kevin Rousseau | Team Bonovo Action | Adolf-RS-Yamaha | Report |
| 3 | Donington Park | 1 | Todd Ellis / Emmanuelle Clément | Tim Reeves / Kevin Rousseau | Todd Ellis / Emmanuelle Clément | Santander Salt Sidecar Team | LCR-Yamaha | Report |
| 3 | Donington Park | 2 | Todd Ellis / Emmanuelle Clément | Todd Ellis / Emmanuelle Clément | Stephen Kershaw / Ryan Charlwood | Kershaw Racing | LCR-Yamaha | Report |
| 4 | TT Circuit Assen | 1 | Todd Ellis / Emmanuelle Clément | Markus Schlosser / Marcel Fries | Markus Schlosser / Marcel Fries | Gustoil Sidecar Racing Team | LCR-Yamaha | Report |
| 4 | TT Circuit Assen | 2 | Todd Ellis / Emmanuelle Clément | Markus Schlosser / Marcel Fries | Markus Schlosser / Marcel Fries | Gustoil Sidecar Racing Team | LCR-Yamaha | Report |
| 5 | Automotodrom Grobnik | 1 | Markus Schlosser / Marcel Fries | Todd Ellis / Emmanuelle Clément | Markus Schlosser / Marcel Fries | Gustoil Sidecar Racing Team | LCR-Yamaha | Report |
| 5 | Automotodrom Grobnik | 2 | Markus Schlosser / Marcel Fries | Tim Reeves / Kevin Rousseau | Tim Reeves / Kevin Rousseau | Team Bonovo Action | Adolf-RS-Yamaha | Report |
| 6 | Motorsport Arena Oschersleben | 1 | Markus Schlosser / Marcel Fries | Markus Schlosser / Marcel Fries | Markus Schlosser / Marcel Fries | Gustoil Sidecar Racing Team | LCR-Yamaha | Report |
| 6 | Motorsport Arena Oschersleben | 2 | Markus Schlosser / Marcel Fries | Markus Schlosser / Marcel Fries | Markus Schlosser / Marcel Fries | Gustoil Sidecar Racing Team | LCR-Yamaha | Report |
| 7 | Circuito do Estoril | 1 | Tim Reeves / Kevin Rousseau | Ben Birchall / Tom Birchall | Ben Birchall / Tom Birchall | Birchall Racing | LCR-Honda | Report |
| 7 | Circuito do Estoril | 2 | Tim Reeves / Kevin Rousseau | Tim Reeves / Kevin Rousseau | Harry Payne / Mark Wilkes | Kelproperties.im Team #45 | Adolf-RS-Yamaha | Report |
| 7 | Circuito do Estoril | 3 | Tim Reeves / Kevin Rousseau | Ben Birchall / Tom Birchall | Tim Reeves / Kevin Rousseau | Team Bonovo Action | Adolf-RS-Yamaha | Report |
| Sources: |||||||||

### World Championship standings
#### Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top fifteen finishers. A rider had to finish the race to earn points. If a race were to be stopped with less than two-thirds of the original race distance completed, half points was to be awarded. For the final two races of the season in Estoril double points were awarded.
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th |
| Points | 25 | 20 | 16 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |

### Riders' championship

| Pos. | Driver | Passenger | Bike | FRA | FRA | HUN | HUN | GBR | GBR | NED | NED | CRO | CRO | GER | GER | POR | POR | POR | Pts. |
| Pos. | Driver | Passenger | Bike | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R3 | Pts. |
| 1 | Markus Schlosser | Marcel Fries | LCR-Yamaha | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | DNF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 328 |
| 2 | Todd Ellis | Emmanuelle Clément | LCR-Yamaha | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | DNF | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 269 |
| 3 | Pekka Päivärinta | Ilse de Haas | LCR-Yamaha | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 218 |
| 4 | Stephen Kershaw | Ryan Charlwood | LCR-Yamaha | 5 | 7 | DNF | 5 | DNF | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 212 |
| 5 | Tim Reeves | Kevin Rousseau | Adolf RS-Yamaha | 1 | 5 | DNF | DSQ | 4 | 2 | 3 | DNF | DNF | 1 | 3 | 2 | DNF | DNF | 1 | 196 |
| 6 | Lukas Wyssen | Thomas Hofer | LCR-Yamaha | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | | | 7 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 12 | 128 |
| 7 | Bennie Streuer | Jeroen Remmé | Adolf RS-Yamaha | | | | | | | DSQ | DNF | 4 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 105 |
| 8 | Harry Payne | Mark Wilkes | LCR-Yamaha | | | | | 8 | 8 | 5 | 7 | | | | | 6 | 1 | DNF | 96 |
| 9 | Ben Birchall | Tom Birchall | LCR-Honda | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | 9 | 2 | 79 |
| 10 | Robb Biggs | Jeroen Schmitz | LCR-Yamaha | | | | | | | 6 | 5 | | | 8 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 78 |
| 11 | Claude Vinet | Cyril Vinet | LCR-Yamaha | 9 | 10 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 70 |
| 11 | Claude Vinet | Damien Common | LCR-Yamaha | | | | | | | 11 | DNF | | | | | | | | 70 |
| 11 | Claude Vinet | Melanie Farnier | LCR-Yamaha | | | | | | | | | 8 | 9 | 15 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 70 |
| 12 | Ted Peugeot | Vincent Peugeot | LCR-Yamaha | 7 | 4 | | | | | 4 | 6 | | | 7 | 6 | | | | 64 |
| 13 | Peter Kimeswenger | Kevin Kölsch | LCR-Yamaha | | | 7 | 8 | | | | | 7 | 8 | 11 | 10 | | | | 46 |
| 14 | Kees Endeveld | Hendrik Crome | LCR-Yamaha | 8 | 8 | 5 | 7 | | | DNF | 9 | DNS | DNF | 12 | DNF | | | | 45 |
| 15 | Janez Remše | Manfred Wechselberger | Adolf RS-Yamaha | | | 8 | 9 | | | | | 9 | 10 | 13 | DNF | | | | 31 |
| 16 | Kevin Cable | Max Vasseur | LCR-Yamaha | DNF | DNF | DNF | 10 | 11 | DNF | 9 | 10 | | | | | | | | 30 |
| 16 | Kevin Cable | Kyle Masters | LCR-Yamaha | | | | | | | | | | | 14 | 12 | | | | 30 |
| 17 | Stephane Gadet | Clotilde Salmon | LCR-Kawasaki | 11 | 12 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 30 |
| 17 | Stephane Gadet | Valentin Pirat | LCR-Kawasaki | | | | | | | | | | | | | 11 | 11 | 13 | 30 |
| 18 | Craig Currie | Justin Sharp | LCR-Yamaha | | | | | | | | | | | | | 5 | DNF | 8 | 27 |
| 19 | Josef Sattler | Luca Schmidt | Adolf RS-Yamaha | | | 4 | 4 | | | | | | | DNS | DNS | | | | 26 |
| 20 | Sam Cristie | Adam Cristie | LCR-Yamaha | | | | | 7 | 7 | | | | | | | | | | 20 |
| 21 | Lewis Blackstock | Patrick Rosney | LCR-Yamaha | | | | | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | 20 |
| 22 | Philippe Le Bail | Serge Leveau | LCR-Yamaha | 10 | 9 | | | | | | | | | | | DNF | DNS | 14 | 17 |
| 23 | Scott Lawrie | Shelley Smithies | LCR-Yamaha | | | | | | | | | | | 9 | 9 | | | | 14 |
| 24 | Paul Leglise | Sebastien Lavorel | LCR-Yamaha | | | | | | | | | | | | | DNF | DNS | 9 | 14 |
| 25 | Thomas Philip | Tom Bryant | LCR-Yamaha | | | | | DNF | 4 | | | | | | | | | | 13 |
| 26 | John Holden | Jason Pitt | Adolf RS-Yamaha | | | | | DNF | 9 | | | | | | | | | | 13 |
| 27 | Rupert Archer | Philip Hyde | Adolf RS-Yamaha | | | | | 10 | 10 | | | | | | | | | | 12 |
| 28 | Philippe Gallerne | Yann Druel | RCN-Kawasaki | 13 | 11 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 10 |
| 28 | Philippe Gallerne | Nicholas Bidault | RCN-Kawasaki | | | | | | | | | | | DNF | 14 | | | | 10 |
| 29 | George Holden | Oscar Lawrence | LCR-Suzuki | | | | | 9 | DNF | | | | | | | | | | 7 |
| 30 | Benjamin Luneau | Nicholas Bidault | LCR-Yamaha | | | | | | | 10 | DNF | | | | | | | | 6 |
| 30 | Hugo Fretay | Joaquim Fenoy Casas | LCR-Yamaha | 12 | DNF | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 4 |
| 31 | Franck Barbier | Mickael Rigondeau | LCR-Yamaha | DNF | DNS | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 0 |
| Pos. | Driver | Passenger | Bike | FRA | FRA | HUN | HUN | GBR | GBR | NED | NED | CRO | CRO | GER | GER | POR | POR | POR | Pts. |
| Colour | Result |
| Gold | Winner |
| Silver | Second place |
| Bronze | Third place |
| Green | Points finish |
| Blue | Non-points finish |
| Blue | Non-classified finish (NC) |
| Purple | Retired (Ret) |
| Red | Did not qualify (DNQ) |
| Red | Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) |
| Black | Disqualified (DSQ) |
| White | Did not start (DNS) |
| White | Withdrew (WD) |
| White | Race cancelled (C) |
| Blank | Did not practice (DNP) |
| Blank | Did not arrive (DNA) |
| Blank | Excluded (EX) |