The Mitchells of Mansfield supported brothers secured third place in qualifying in a mixed grid of F1 and 600cc outfits and were fastest in their class and as the first of two races got underway the six times TT winners slotted into fourth place overall before moving up to third at the half way stage of the 12 lap affair.

The Birchalls maintained third place throughout the remainder of the race to take the chequered flag as comfortable winners in the 600 class with Ellis/Richardson finishing in second place some distance behind.

The first four rows of the grid are reversed for the second race with the Birchall brothers starting the 10 lap race from the fourth row.

As the lights went out Ben and Tom made up ground to sixth on the first lap and spent the next two laps battling with Bell/Hyde until they finally made the pass stick and secure fifth position. They then set their sights on Holland/Ramsay and one lap later reeled them in to move into fourth place.

Ben and Tom began to close down James/Tritton who were circulating some distance ahead but although they gave it their best shot they ran out of time and had to be content with fourth place in the overall listings and another decisive win in the 600 class.

Ben said:

“We had a great weekend at Snetterton; we thought we may struggle due to the nature of the circuit as we were giving away 400cc to the F1 outfits but we were pleasantly surprised to find we held our own against the 1000cc engines.

“Next week will be busy for us as we have just a few days to prepare the F2 outfit for the Southern 100 and also the long chassis 600 for the British round at Mallory Park which is the day before we go to the Isle of Man.

“Thanks to our loyal sponsors and supporters, many of whom were at Snetterton for the racing on Sunday. We hope you enjoyed your day with us.”

After contesting just three of the eight races because of a clash of dates with the World championship Ben and Tom currently lie in fourth place on 30 points but they are only 11 points away from the series lead.

Busy week ahead

The next round of the British championship is on Sunday, July 9 at Mallory Park when the Birchall Brothers will contest the two races before heading to the Isle of Man for the Southern 100 races.

The post Birchalls clear up in the 600 Cup appeared first on Birchall Racing.

Starting the Sprint race from pole position it was the Birchall Brothers who got the perfect start into the first series of bends on their Birchall Racing LCR Yamaha. Paivarinta/Kainulainen slotted into second place and gave chase to the Birchall Brothers with Streuer/De-Haas following just a fraction of a second behind.

As the race wore on the Mitchells of Mansfield supported brothers began to pull away and crossed the finish line well ahead of Paivarinta who followed them home in second place. Holden/Wilks reeled in and passed Streuer to finish the race in third place.

In the gold race on Sunday Ben and Tom didnt get a clean getaway at the start but once into their stride took the lead by the end of the first lap. They soon pulled clear of the pursuing pack and extended their lead throughout the 20 lap affair to take the chequered flag over 27 seconds ahead of Paivarinta/Kainulainen with Holden/Wilkes again finishing in third place.

Ben said:

“We have enjoyed our time in Germany and are delighted to have secured the win in both races.

The outfit is running really well and things couldn’t have gone any better for us. All the hard work and preparation we put in over the closed season is paying off nicely.

Ben continued:

“Oschersleben is a great circuit and we were really pleased we were able to take pole position, both wins and the lap record.

Thanks go to our hard working crew members who have pulled out all the stops again this weekend. Thanks also to our sponsors and supporters; we are delighted to have been able to reward them for their loyalty with a brace of wins this weekend.

“We’re off to the TT now so we cant wait for that”

The next round of the World Sidecar championship is in Hungary over the weekend of June 17-18 when once again there are two races for the brothers to contest.

The TT gets underway with practice starting on Saturday, May 27 to Friday, June 2. The first three lap sidecar race takes place on Saturday, June 3 with a provisional start time of 2pm. The second race is on Friday, June 9 at 10.15am.

We’ll be putting together an IOM TT race page so you can find all the latest IOM TT news and results as soon as they happen. Check back on the website later for details.

The post Birchall Brothers At The Double appeared first on Birchall Racing.

Fresh from their victory in the first round of the World Sidecar championship at Le Mans, the team headed to Cheshire to contest the second round of the British championship. Because of a date clash they were unable to ride in the first round at Brands Hatch but were keen to make up for that by securing a win at Oulton Park.

Within the mixed grid of F1 and 600cc Cup competitors the Mitchells of Mansfield supported brothers posted some fast laps during qualifying and were fastest in class, fifth overall and placed on the third row for the start of the 12 lap race on Monday.

After qualifying Ben commented: “It was tricky out there as the track was damp and I was unable to get a clear run to elevate myself further up the grid but on saying that I was really happy to be only 1.2 seconds away from pole which, considering I was giving away 400cc to the F1 teams who were running 1000cc engines, was excellent.”

As the race got underway the Birchalls were baulked by a number of machines as they went into Hizzy’s chicane resulting in the outfit being pushed onto the grass. They were quick to recover and began the chase in eighth place overall and first in their class. On lap two they were up to seventh and then sixth as the field began to string out.

By the midway stage of the 12 lap affair they were up to fifth place and honing in on the F1 outfit ahead. They had just moved into fourth when one of the F1 passengers fell from his machine resulting in the red flag curtailing the track action and a result declared at 10 laps distance. The Birchall brothers were awarded fourth place overall and were the convincing winners of the 600 Cup over 34 seconds ahead of the second Cup competitors Founds/Walmsley.

Ben said:

“It was a great weekend for us at Oulton Park as we continue with the development of the new machine.

Craig Fitzpatrick of CF Motorsport spent some valuable time with us over the weekend to further improve the performance of the Yamaha R6 engine that he supplied to us for our World Championship campaign in readiness for the second round at Oschersleben shortly.

The weekend was helpful to keep our skills sharp battling with the F1 machines.

Thanks to our sponsors for their continued support and it was nice to be able to repay them in England with a convincing win.

“We now turn our attention to the TT machine and over the next two weeks will continue our test schedule before leaving for Oschersleben and then the TT.”

The next race for the Birchall brothers is the second round of the FIM World Sidecar championship at Oschersleben which takes place over the weekend of May 20-21.

The post BIRCHALL RACING STORM TO VICTORY AT OULTON PARK appeared first on Birchall Racing.

The new rules for the world championship meant that all Sidecar teams had to change from 1000cc to 600cc engines.

Having switched to the smaller engine last year Ben and Tom Birchall secured the FIM F2 World Sidecar title, securing pole positions and lap records on their way to the title.

The Mitchell’s of Mansfield supported riders have made the change to Yamaha this season and have taken part in some intensive pre-race testing in France prior to the race at Le Mans.

The brothers dominated practice and qualifying and began the 18 lap race from pole position. But they didn’t get the hole shot as John Holden was the first to reach the chicane but Ben and Tom were hot on their heels and took the lead on the exit to the chicane to accelerate away extending their lead with every lap.

The race came to an early end when another competitor crashed heavily with three laps to go and a result was declared at 15 laps distance with Ben and Tom recording the win well ahead of Paivarinta/Kainulainer (2nd) and Streuer/Raisseau (3rd). The Mansfield pair also set a new lap record with a 1m 44.685s lap – 143.9kmph set on lap nine.

Ben said:

“That was a perfect start to our championship; it couldn’t have gone any better for us. All the hard work and preparation we put in over the closed season is paying off nicely.”

“Le Mans is a fantastic venue and it was great for us to take pole position, the win and the lap record. We now look forward to getting our British Championship campaign underway at Oulton Park on May 1.”

The next round is at Oschersleben in Germany over the weekend of May 20/21. Prior to that the Birchall brothers will contest the second round of the British Sidecar Championship at Oulton park on Monday May 1st

The post BIRCHALL BROTHERS TAKE DECISIVE WIN AT LE MANS appeared first on Birchall Racing.

Ben Birchall said:

“Our preparation is going very well right now and we are nearly ready to make a start on our testing programme ahead of the first race.

He went on to say:

“We are delighted our loyal sponsors are to continue with their support again this year and we are looking forward to start of the new season and to reward them with race wins throughout 2017.”

British Sidecar Championship

Brands Hatch              April 15-17- TBC

Oulton Park                 April 29 – 1st

Snetterton                   June 30- Jul 2nd

Mallory Park               July 9th

Brands Hatch              July 21-23

Assen                          Sept 29- 1st Oct

Brands Hatch             Oct 13-15

World Sidecar Championship

Le Mans                       April 15

Oschersleben                May 20-21

Pannonia Ring             June 17-18

Assen                           August 6

Croatia                         Sept 9-10

Isle of Man TT races

Practice                       May 27-June 2

Race one                    June 3

Race two                     June 9

Isle of Man Southern 100

Practice                       July 10-11

Races                          July 12-13

The post Birchall Racing Prepare For 2017 Season appeared first on Birchall Racing.