2025 FIM SIDECARCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONS
An incredibly specialised sport where skill, courage and supreme physical fitness are all prerequisites for success, SidecarCross also calls for teamwork and communication and this season Dutch racer Koen Hermans has established himself as the world’s leading rider in the discipline.
The twenty-eight-year-old has raced with four-time champion passenger Ben van den Bogaart since 2023 when the pairing won the bronze medal and after finishing fourth last season, Hermans at last struck gold in 2025.
It has been a series that will go down in the history books as being incredibly close, although Hermans started the year in control after winning four of the opening six motos. However, his rivals never let him break free and following eight hard-fought rounds the championship concluded at Rudersberg in Germany with Hermans/van den Bogaart locked in a fierce fight with Killian and Evan Prunier from France and the British pairing of Brett Wilkinson and Joe Millard.
Having lost the championship lead at the previous round to the Prunier brothers and with the title on the line, Hermans kept his nerve and after winning the opening moto he crossed the line in third in race two to clinch the crown by just four points.
PALMARES - Koen Hermans
Rider's World Title: 2025
Since making his debut at the highest level back in 2008, Ben van den Bogaart has forged a hard-earned reputation as one of the best passengers in the business and this year he underlined his status when, alongside Koen Hermans, he clinched his fifth FIM SidecarCross Passenger World Championship title to equal the record held by Latvia’s Artis Rasmanis.
Having taken bronze in 2023 in his first season with Hermans before finishing fourth last year, the Dutchmen took early control of the championship chase with dominant performances at the first three rounds in the Czech Republic, Great Britain and France before their challengers began to reel them in.
The fight for supremacy continued through rounds in Poland, Belgium, Germany, Latvia and, for a second time, France before the pair headed to the final round at Rudersberg in Germany – scene of van den Bogaart’s first-ever GP win fifteen years earlier – having lost the lead to French brothers Killian and Evan Prunier.
With the British crew of Brett Wilkinson and Joe Millard also in contention, tensions were running extremely high and the atmosphere was electric as Hermans/van den Bogaart powered to victory in the opening moto before bringing it home in third in race two to clinch the coveted crown.
PALMARES - Ben van den Bogaart
Passenger's World Titles: 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2025