The event will take place on the 4.168km circuit of Grobnik in Croatia, just south of Rijeka and although there are two races, the Mitchells of Mansfield supported brothers only have to complete the first race ahead of their nearest rivals, Paivarinta and Kainulainen to be crowned world champions.

Ben and Tom have spent the last couple of weeks preparing the LCR Yamaha R6 outfit for their final campaign and are confident it is in perfect condition and ready for the challenge.

Ben and Tom in Croatia last year

Ben said: “we are excited to be challenging for the world championship this weekend, the outfit is fully prepared and in perfect condition so it is just down to us two to make sure we maintain our winning streak and bring the world title back to Mansfield.”

The timetable is as below but remember that Croatia is one hour ahead of the UK.

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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.

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Following on from their double win at the Isle of Man TT races last week where they set a new lap record of 117. 119mph the Mitchells of Mansfield supported brothers headed straight to Hungary for a round of the World championship where they were to contest two races in the current World championship campaign.

The Mansfield pair secured pole position during qualifying with a lap of 1m 58.679s which is a faster time than the fastest lap time from last year during the race with the larger 1000cc engine. 

Ben said: “The bike is perfect, we will see how the race goes, it has been a good weekend so far.”

As the lights went out for the start of the sprint race it was Paivarinta and Kainulainen who got the hole shot into the first corner but they ran wide allowing the Birchall brothers to get ahead. But a fellow competitor suffered a crash further downfield and the red flag brought proceedings to a halt. At the restart it was Paivarinta once again to get away in the lead but by the end of lap one Birchall had taken the lead and continued to forge ahead extending their lead to take the chequered flag a full nine seconds ahead of their rivals with Holden/Wilkes finishing in third place.

Ben and Tom were over the moon with their win plus the added bonus of setting a new lap record of 1m 59.532s.

After spending the evening preparing the LCR Honda for the Gold race on Sunday the teams took their gird positions for the start of the 15 lap affair. This time The Birchall brothers scorched away to complete the 15 laps for another win over 18 seconds ahead of Paivarinta with Holden once again taking third place.

Ben said:

“we are delighted to have taken the double win here this weekend. It’s been a long month with us having two world championship rounds with the two TT races sandwiched in between so we were thrilled to have come out on top after such a tiring month. It’s good that the rest of the competitors are now getting to grips with their 600cc outfits and the racing is a lot closer.

“We have to thank our team for their sterling work again this weekend plus our loyal sponsors for their continued support. With over a month before the next World championship race we have time to contest a round of the British championship and are looking forward to Snetterton at the end of the month.”

The Birchall brothers remain unbeaten in the world championship this year and are settled at the head of the rider standings on 125 points with the next round at Assen on August 6.

Meanwhile Ben and Tom will take in a round of the British 600cc sidecar championship at Snetterton over the weekend of June 30/July 2.

The post Birchall Brothers Victorious In Hungary 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.

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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

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