- Ellis and Clément were Sidecar World Champions in 2022 and 2023
- At the 2025 TT, the duo finished fourth in both races with a best lap of 115.065 mph (approximately 185.2 km/h)
- A podium finish by Clément would be the first by a woman at the TT since 1987
The Isle of Man TT has attracted riders throughout its more than one hundred years of history who dare to tackle the 37.73-mile Mountain Course to write motorsport history. Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clément are one of those pairings who plan to do exactly that in the coming years. The British-French sidecar crew, World Champions in 2022 and 2023, travel to the island for their third TT appearance in 2026 with a clear goal: their first podium finish.
From World Championship Title to the Mountain Course
Ellis and Clément first competed at the Tourist Trophy in 2024 and immediately made a strong impression. In the first race, the duo finished seventh and set a fastest lap of 113.786 mph (approximately 183.1 km/h). This performance earned Ellis the prestigious Peter Chapman Trophy as best newcomer driver. At the same time, Clément became the fastest female sidecar passenger ever to lap the Mountain Course.
By the time they returned in 2025, significant progress was evident. The crew improved their best lap to 115.065 mph (approximately 185.2 km/h) and finished fourth in both races. In both cases, Ellis and Clément narrowly missed the podium, underscoring their rapid development on the Mountain Course. With this lap time, they rank eleventh on the all-time list of fastest sidecar crews at the TT.
A Historic Opportunity for Clément
Should the duo achieve a top-three finish in 2026, it would also carry historical significance. Emmanuelle Clément would be the first woman on a TT podium since Julia Bingham in 1987. Bingham, who competed alongside her husband Dennis, is considered the most successful female participant in TT history. Between 1983 and 1987, the couple from Nottinghamshire achieved five podium finishes, including four second places. In their first race in 1984, the Binghams missed victory by just two seconds.
Quotes from the Duo
Todd Ellis looks optimistically at the upcoming season: “The last two years have been a massive learning curve for us. With every lap, things are starting to feel more comfortable and we can now look to push on and aim for stronger results. It’s shaping up to be an exciting year of racing with the new rules, which should hopefully bring the competition closer and make it all to play for. This feels like just the beginning of what could be an exciting next few years.”
Emmanuelle Clément talks about her motivation and her dreams: “I am a big dreamer, and becoming a two-time World Champion was unbelievable, but I still want more. At the TT, we have made good progress and being not far from the podium is really exciting. Finishing on any of those three steps would be another dream come true, so that is the main goal for the years ahead, and it continues to give me great motivation.”
Brookland Sand & Aggregates CES Yamaha as Race Machine
Ellis and Clément will once again contest the two sidecar races at the 2026 TT with the Brookland Sand & Aggregates CES Yamaha, each race running over three laps. With their proven World Championship pedigree and growing experience on the Mountain Course, the crew are among the most promising contenders for a podium finish in the sidecar class.
