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The Mitchells of Mansfield supported team headed off to France directly from Brands Hatch where they scored a brace of second places to take the overall win in the opening rounds of the Eastern Airways British F1 Sidecar championship.

In the opening round of the world championship Ben and Tom held second place throughout the two qualifying sessions behind current world champions Pekka Paivarinta and Adolf Hanni and began their race from a front row grid position.

But the Mansfield pair did not get the best of starts and found themselves in sixth place at turn one. They soon recovered and set about catching the riders ahead and at the end of the first lap they were up to fourth and right on the tail of Jorg Steinhausen and Greg Cluze.

They passed Steinhausen on lap three and Tim Reeves/Ashley Hawes one lap later to take up second place to give chase to the leaders, Paivarinta/Hanni who by this time had established a five second advantage over the rest of the field.

By lap eight of 10 realising that he had insufficient time left to catch the flying Finn, Ben eased off and concentrated on protecting his second place. The red flag then brought the race to an early end and a result declared at eight laps giving Ben and Tom a creditable second place.

“That was a good solid result for us,” said Ben. “I am pleased to get some safe points in the bag. After a bad start I realised I had a lot of work to do and did well to get through so quickly from sixth to second which proves what a strong package we have this year. Had I got away a bit quicker things could have been different but I left myself a bit too much to do in such a short race. The usual race distance is 22 laps but we only had 10 this time and that was just not enough to reel in the leaders.”

The Birchall brothers now turn their full attention to the Isle of Man TT races and make the final preparations for the two races there. Practice week takes place from Saturday, May 26 through to Friday, June 1st. The first three-lap race is scheduled for Saturday, June 2 and Race two is set for Wednesday, June 6.

The next round at the Hungaroring in Hungary is not until June 10 just after the Isle of Man TT races when Ben and Tom will be seeking a top result to stay in touch with Paivarinta/Hanni who lead the championship by five points.

Podium shot shows left to right Tom and Ben Birchall. Adolf Hanni and Pekka Paivarinta, Tim Reeves and Ashley Hawes.

Credit for all pics to Wally Walters.

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The Mitchells of Mansfield supported duo completed their qualifying in second place and began both races from a front row grid position.

Race one took place on Sunday in cold, wet conditions and the race was cut from 18 laps down to 15 because of delays in the earlier solo classes. As the race got underway Ben and Tom remained in second place but soon reeled in Reeves/Hawes who held a small lead and the Mansfield brothers hit the front on lap five to pull out a lead of just over a second.

But as the race wore on the track began to dry and the wet weather tyres showed signs of wear. Lovelock/Lawrence had opted for a tyre more suited to the changeable conditions and reeled the leaders in, taking the lead on lap 12 and going on to take the win from Ben and Tom with Lawrie/Neave finishing in third place.

With Monday came more heavy rain accompanied by a strong wind and conditions were far from ideal for racing. The Second Superbike and the 125 races were both called off and the sidecars put out on track to complete the day’s racing.

It was a close run affair between the Birchall pair and Reeves/Hawes with Reeves taking the chequered flag just two seconds ahead. With two second places under their belts the Birchall brothers were declared the overall winners and also championship leaders on 40 points.

Ben said: “This weekend has been very difficult for everyone. In the second race the conditions were the worse I have ever ridden in. I am not the most comfortable rider in the wet but we gave it our best shot. Our winter testing and development programme enabled us to keep up the pace and push Reeves all the way but towards the end of the race the backmarkers came into play and we were held up slightly at Druids.

“I had to bear in mind the fact that we have the first round of the world championship this coming weekend at Magny Cours in France and I knew I had to keep it safe and not put that in jeopardy. I realised that with two second places here we could take the overall win and the championship lead so didn’t want to push any harder than necessary and perhaps spin off.”

Free practice and qualifying take place over Thursday and Friday at Magny Cours with the 10 lap race on Saturday morning ahead of the 24 hour Bol d’Or race.

Pic credit Dave Yeomans.

The post Birchall Racing Leads 2012 British Sidecar Championship appeared first on Birchall Racing.

Ben commented: “We have concluded our pre-season build up and testing which has all gone like clockwork this year. We have managed to not only find sufficient time to work on our fitness but have also built the TT bike and been to two different venues for testing. The new outfit is very smooth and we have never felt as confident on an F2 machine as this.

“We have also tested the F1 outfit in France and managed to shave a further second from our lap times from last year at the same circuit. Both driver and passenger have never felt so prepared and we are looking forward to the start of the season.

“I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you for the continued support of our loyal sponsors and also to Klaus Klaffenbock and the team for their support at the 2012 TT races.”

First on the agenda is a trip to Brands Hatch where the Mitchells of Mansfield supported brothers will contest the opening two races of the Eastern Airways British F1 Sidecar championship over the Easter weekend. All nine double header rounds in this year’s championship will be run as a support class to the MCE British Superbike championship and the Birchall team intend to compete in as many rounds as possible.

The first round of the British championship kicks off at Brands Hatch at Easter with a test session on Good Friday followed by free practice and qualifying on Saturday. The first 18-lap race is scheduled for 5.05pm on Sunday and the weekend is rounded off with a second 18-lapper on Easter Monday at 5.40pm.

The first round of the FIM World Sidecar championship takes place at Magny Cours in France on April 14 as part of the support package to the Bol d’Or 24-hour race.

The Isle of Man TT races take place from May 26 – June 8.

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