The F2 World Trophy race is run within the gird of the F1 World championship and after taking pole in their class the Mitchells of Mansfield supported brothers began their campaign from the third row in sixth position overall.

As the lights went out at the start of the 17 lap affair Ben and Tom settled into seventh place behind Holden/Ramsey. When John Holden was forced out after a spin on lap 10 the Mansfield pair were elevated to sixth overall and first in class by a large margin.

Ben and Tom maintained their sixth position and crossed the finish line to take their sixth win in the F2 World Trophy class well ahead of their nearest rivals Guignard/Poux who completed the race in 19th place overall.

Ben commented:

We had another great weekend here at Assen. The event was really well organised and there was a huge crowd to watch the sidecar race.

The bike ran well and we were really happy with its performance; we now look forward to Oschersleben and to hopefully continue our winning ways.

Ben and Tom Birchall have extended their series lead in the F2 World Trophy and having won all six races to date look almost certain to take the World Trophy at the end of the season.

The next round is at Oschersleben in Germany on August 27/28 where the team will have two races to contest. The final round of the championship that will decide the title is on home tarmac at Donington Park when Ben and Tom will be riding in front of their home crowd and sponsors at the British Superbike meeting on September 17.

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Familiar surroundings

Fresh from their heroics at Mallory Park, Ben and Tom are on their European travels once again as they return to the FIM fold.

The Assen TT circuit is a familiar hunting ground for team Mansfield and it’s a circuit where they have seen plenty of success! Several good points hauls have been secured by the brothers at Assen in recent years and it’s a circuit that is remembered fondly but also with sadness.

Remembering Sandor

Long time followers of the Birchalls will remember this as the first circuit the brothers raced on following Ben’s hand injury in the 2014 TT (a race in which the Brothers came second)

Another point to remember is that Assen is also the circuit where we tragically lost German sidecar passenger Sandor Pohl almost 3 years ago to the day.

As we look forward to this weekends racing however,  team Mansfield are in a great place at the head of the points classification in the Sidecar F2 World Trophy. You wouldn’t bet against Ben and Tom securing another brace of class wins at this most famous and entertaining Circuit.

The Cathedral Circuit

The current track was built in 1955 and is known as the TT Circuit Assen, it’s the home of the world famous Dutch TT race and popularly referred to as “The Cathedral” by fans of motorcycle racing.

The Circuit boasts a 100,000 capacity that includes 60,000 seats! World Superbikes has been a regular event on the Assen calendar since it’s first appearance there in 1992.

It’s a technical circuit with tight bends and fast straights, making it popular with riders and spectators alike. There have been a lot of changes in the past few years at Assen, the track has been shortened to 2.83 miles and a reported 83 million euro investment has improved facilities at Assen for all visitors.

What to expect from the weekends weather

All the talk leading up to the race weekend is of the wet conditions that possibly lie ahead in Holland. Saturday morning has the highest chance of seeing rain but with temperatures in the low twenties Celsius hopefully any rain that does fall won’t affect the racing too badly.

Birchall Brothers celebrate at Assen in 2014

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Still recovering from the serious hand injury sustained in the accident on the Isle of Man Ben did just enough in qualifying to gain a respectable grid position, saving his energy for the race. The Mitchells of Mansfield supported team recorded four or more laps and set a fast time which was sufficient to start the race from the front row of the grid in second place.

Race day threw up some challenges as just prior to the start of the race there was a rain storm. But the track was drying quickly and the riders opted to go out in damp conditions on slick tyres in the hope the rain would stay away.

Ben said: “The conditions being damp at the start were a little difficult for me as it put a lot of strain on my injured hand; but as the track dried we were able to get up to our normal speed.”

The Birchall boys got the hole shot into the first turn and held the lead for the first couple of laps before being overhauled by Reeves/Cluze. But the leaders did not pull away and Ben was able to remain in touch circulating about three seconds adrift. As the race unfolded the track dried out and Ben was able to push a bit harder setting the fastest lap of the race (1m 42.599s) in his efforts to catch the leaders. But it was a little too late and the Birchall brothers crossed the finish line in second place the gap being just 2.35s.

Ben said: “We were pleased to set the fastest lap but also very pleased it was the final lap. We brought the gap down to just over two seconds but I was so relieved to have finished as it was a long, hard race for me in the circumstances. I need to thank Mike Hayton for his fantastic efforts in putting my hand back together which enabled me to actually race today. To think where we were three weeks ago it’s an amazing effort by the consultant to get me relatively fit. Also to the Hyperbaric chamber in Nottingham and Phoenix Physio and Laser clinic for the work they did leading up to the Assen race. My team have been amazing, everyone has dug in to help so I could rest up and my main sponsor Andy Mitchell even drove the transporter to Assen which was such a help as I couldn’t drive that far. To finish the race on the podium with MotoGP was amazing.”

The second place earned Ben and Tom 20 championship points and puts them back up to second in the overall rider standings. The next round is at Sachsenring in Germany on July 13 and is once again a support race to the MotoGP championship.

pic credit Wally Walters

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