25.11.2011. The 2011 racing season went well for Ben and Tom Birchall who finished in second place in the FIM World Sidecar championship and fourth in the Eastern Airways British Sidecar Championship. The pair also won the Sunflower Trophy at Bishopscourt and finished fifth and seventh at the Isle of Man TT Festival.
Things could have been different for the Mitchells of Mansfield sponsored duo as, after winning the first race of the weekend, they suffered a crash at Schleiz in Germany resulting in a trip to hospital and then being ruled out of the second rounds of the British championship at Brands Hatch. Had the unfortunate pair not tangled with a back marker but gone on to win the race they would have been nicely placed at the head of the championship table.
Fully recovered from their mishap at Schleiz Ben and Tom went on to complete their remaining world championship races on the podium notching up two wins, four seconds and a third place, starting six of their races from pole position and scoring 146 championship points on their way to the runner up spot.
In the British Championship Ben and Tom were only able to contest five of the eight rounds because of date clashes with the world championship but nonetheless they notched up a string of podium finishes with three wins, seven seconds and a third place to their names and completed the season in a healthy fourth place. Again if they had been able to contest the full championship they would once again have been title contenders.
The pair rounded off their season with a visit to Bishopscourt in Northern Ireland where they took pole position and set a new lap record. With a win and a second place in the two races the Birchall Brothers won the trophy for the fourth consecutive year.
Not content with contesting the F1 class the brothers once again headed to the Isle of Man where they took part in the annual TT races on the F2 outfit.. The pair enjoyed their best results so far with a seventh in race one and fifth in race two which won them a brace of silver trophies apiece. They set their best ever lap of the gruelling 37.73-mile circuit on lap two of the second race with a speed of 111.622mph.
Ben said: “I would like to convey my thanks to all those who were associated with the team in 2011. The support and help you gave to Birchall Racing was gratefully received. We hope that despite the difficult financial climate you are able to once again support the team which will enable us to increase our efforts at the world and British championships and also the TT Festival.
