Mansfield brothers Ben and Tom Birchall made it two out of two podiums from the 2012 Isle of Man TT when they rode to a fine third place in the second of the three-lap races on Wednesday.
Ben & Tom at the start of the race
The race start was delayed because of poor weather conditions but finally went ahead mid afternoon. Once again Ben and Tom were the fifth competitors to set off around the challenging 37.73-mile mountain road course and by the time they reached the first checkpoint at Glen Helen they were up to second place, just a second down on the leaders, Molyneux and Farrance.
Riding the Cofain by Klaffi LCR Honda, the pair were in fine form and took the lead at Ballaugh. They maintained this three second lead to Ramsey but were demoted to third place by the time they negotiated the mountain section of the course.
Ben & Tom with their Laurels after the race
“After taking the lead on the first lap we seemed to lose a bit of power, I don’t quite know why, but the outfit takes such a battering around here that it could be anything. However we kept it going and thankfully we were able to complete the race. I can’t thank everyone enough, what a team we have behind us, it’s not going to end here, it will keep going. Klaus (Klaffenbock) has been amazing all week, and the guys from Cofain, Manx Gas and Andy Faragher plus Andy Mitchell, my main sponsor have been here to support us all fortnight and have enjoyed two great races. We have never been put under any pressure to do anything although I am a little disappointed we couldn’t have gone that little bit better than Saturday. But that’s the nature of this place, we tried our best and whatever that gives us we are happy with. I must also thank Avon tyres for their input. The tyres have been brilliant and gave us the confidence we needed to race around this amazing course.”
There is no time for celebrations as Ben and Tom head straight off to Hungary now for the second round of the FIM Sidecar World championship that takes place on Sunday, June 10. The brothers currently hold second place in the world championship and will be looking to add to their points tally to maintain this on Sunday.
Photos supplied by Mark Wally Walters
