Todd Ellis & Emanuelle Clément

HOT TODDY!

Great Britain has enjoyed a long and successful history in the FIM Sidecar World Championship, and this record was extended when Todd Ellis – Yamaha steered his outfit to the 2022 crown.

Since the championship’s inception in 1949, British riders have now achieved the ultimate accolade on thirty-three occasions with Ellis the latest to make his mark after finishing second in 2021.

With Frenchwoman Emmanuelle Clement providing highly skilled ballast, the team dominated the series from the first round at Le Mans in the middle of April.

Ellis kicked off his campaign in great form in northern France, racing to an early championship lead with a race-one win backed up with a solid second in race two.

Just one week later at Assen in Holland the pair were again in control, this time reversing their French finishes with a two-one scorecard putting them on the top step of the podium.

Following a month’s break Ellis came out fighting at the beginning of June at the World-famous Spa-Francorchamps circuit and hammered home his advantage with a double win in Belgium.

Extending his lead at Hungary’s Pannoniaring in the middle of June with another one-two, Ellis then suffered his first set-back.

After winning the opening race at Rijeka in Croatia by over two seconds, mechanical problems resulted in a no-score in the second leg although his lead was still sixteen points despite this disappointment.

If his rivals sensed weakness they were quickly put in their place after he ran one-two on home turf at Donington Park in the middle of July before nailing another devastating double, this time at the penultimate round in Germany at the start of October.

Heavy rain at Estoril at the end of October did not deter him and Ellis made sure of the crown with two-three finishes at the final round. 

PALMARES

FIM Sidecar Rider World Champion: 2022

LEADING LADY!

Only the second female ever to be crowned FIM Sidecar Passenger World Champion, this year flying Frenchwoman Emmanuelle Clémentfollowed in the footsteps of fast Finn Kirsi Kainulainen who claimed her title in 2016.

With British rider Todd Ellis twisting the throttle, Clément’s skills in the sidecar kept their outfit’s third wheel firmly anchored and after finishing second last season they went one better in 2022.

With Clément on home ground at the legendary Le Mans in northern France, their championship campaign got off to a great start at the Circuit Bugatti with victory in the opening race of the season.

Backing this up with a strong second in race two, the pairing took the championship lead to Assen one week later where they again ended the day on the top step of the podium courtesy of two-one finishes to extend their advantage in the points standings.

Even better was to come and at the start of June there was double delight at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium where the dream team dominated before scoring another one-two at Hungary’s Pannoniaring two weeks later.

With a commanding lead heading into the second half of the season, victory in the opening race at Rijeka in Croatia was followed by mechanical issues that saw them fail to finish, but despite this their lead was still sixteen points.

Next up was Donington Park in Britain in the middle of July where they won the first race and backed it up with a second in race two and they then hammered home their superiority with a double win in Germany.

At the final round at Estoril in Portugal at the end of October, Clément was crowned as the World’s best passenger with two-three finishes easily good enough to claim the crown.

PALMARES

FIM Sidecar Passenger World Champion: 2022