The 2019 season was one of huge highs as well as sobering lows for Ben and Tom Birchall. Despite showing race-winning pace at every single round of the FIM Sidecar World Championship, the Mansfield-based duo were unable to turn their speed into valuable championship-winning points. A run of bad luck that followed them throughout their international campaign caused a number of DNFs, making it incredibly tough for the boys to claw back enough points to claim a third consecutive title. Ultimately finishing third in the final series rankings, Ben and Tom were nevertheless pleased with their performance and proud to have finished on the overall championship podium.

The 2019 Isle of Man TT however, went perfectly. In contrast to the 2018 event, the small island was not blessed with two weeks of sunshine, but instead mixed weather and showers made for tricky qualifying conditions for all. With a lack of good track and testing time, all Sidecar TT competitors went into the rescheduled Monday three-lapper faced with a damp and blustery course. Making the most of their skill and experience, Birchall Racing led from start to finish, even managing a 119.129mph lap on their second circuit. Ben steered the Haith, Live Your Adventure – Isle of Man & Mitchells of Mansfield sponsored outfit into the winners’ enclosure at the end of the third lap to claim the team’s ninth TT victory, breaking the race record in doing so.

Race two on the island was just as thrilling. With the organisers doing an excellent job to find a slot for all of the races that week, Sidecar Race 2 was brought forward to Thursday and reduced to two laps. In arguably the best conditions of the fortnight, the Birchalls set off down Bray Hill and never looked back. Bringing their LCR Honda outfit home 20 seconds ahead of the second-placed outfit, Ben and Tom earned their 10th TT win to secure themselves as overall Sidecar TT Champions once again. To top off an amazing event, Ben and Tom also won the Motul Award for Technical Excellence – their LCR outfits filled the three podium positions in both races and close to half the sidecar field was made up of LCR machines.

Birchall Racing have already started on their preparations for the 2020 season. After much deliberation, the boys have decided to take a break from the world championships and concentrate on the TT and the ever-popular BSB championship. The team will also be contending selected European road races throughout the year. The decision comes from both Ben and Tom wishing to spend more time closer to home with their young families. Never ones to rest on their laurels however, the boys plan on making some changes to their outfits to push the limits that little bit further in the forthcoming season.

Ben Birchall: “I have had a fantastic year again and firstly I have to thank everyone who has made it possible. The team has enjoyed an incredible season, with another dominant performance at the TT and some excellent results in both the British and world championships. We were on the pace all year but just weren’t able to convert it into the finishes and points we needed to claim the world title. It’s disappointing, but that’s the way racing goes sometimes. We’ll turn our attention now to getting everything ready for next season, we’ve already got some great plans in place and are looking forward to another strong year.”

Tom Birchall: “Overall I’m really happy with our 2019 racing campaign. The year was split into two really with the World Championship and the TT commitments. We took on a new challenge this year with a new design and engine configuration for the world championships and it worked well, showing a good competitive pace at all rounds. We came away with several wins, pole positions and fastest laps, which we are very proud of. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t quite clinch our third consecutive championship but we gave the season 100% and came away with third, which is a huge achievement in itself.

“The TT was amazing. Although the place has always been in our blood ever since we were kids, the event has become such a big part of our lives now. Partly because we’re building bikes for the TT and other competitors but also because of how things have grown over there. It really is a highlight of our year to be able to bring good racing and entertainment to all the fans who support us.”

Birchall Racing would like to say thank you to all their fans for their support over the 2019 season. Also, to their team and supporters without whom, none of this would be possible. Here’s looking forward to another successful year of racing and hopefully more top results.

Photo credit: Lucas Croydon, Mark Walters, Jon Cole

The post BIRCHALL RACING LOOK BACK AT SUCCESSFUL 2019 RACING SEASON AND MAKE PLANS FOR 2020 appeared first on Birchall Racing.

Just weeks following their record-breaking run of success at the Isle of Man TT Races, Birchall Racing were back to their winning ways at round two of the FIM world championship. An outing at Brands Hatch earlier in the month had unfortunately ended in incident with Ben and Tom thankfully ok, but their LCR Yamaha outfit sustained damage in the crash and needed some maintenance before its next race.

As always, the team came through, and with hours of hard work leading up to the Hungary event the Mitchells of Mansfield backed One Call Insurance machine was ready to take to the track for Friday’s opening session.

Practice went perfectly and as the teams completed the first qualifying session it was Birchall Racing who came out on top with a superb time of 1:59.885. For Q2, the sweltering temperatures at the circuit had risen even higher and it was unlikely that lap times from the morning could be beaten. With their outfit performing impeccably however, Ben and Tom went on to knock a further few tenths off their existing time and earn themselves pole position for the afternoon’s sprint race.

The nine-lap sprint race saw a closely-fought battle with series front-runners Reeves/Wilkes and Paivarinta/Veravainen. As the race progressed the Birchall brothers and Reeves/Wilkes gapped the third-placed outfit and took the fight right to the line. Ultimately, with a strong final overtake, it was Ben and Tom that took the chequered flag by just three tenths of a second.

The 15-lap ‘Gold Race’ saw another strong start by Birchall Racing and once again the three top teams jostled for position throughout the early laps. With the high temperatures and abrasive track conditions, tyre conservation was a concern for all teams. Ben, driving as smooth as he could, aimed to maintain the condition of his Avon rubber and keep some pace in reserve for the final few laps. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be – rather than risk a mistake, the Mansfield-based brothers settled for second place and with it, some well-earned championship points.

Ben Birchall: “The team and bike have worked perfectly all weekend and we ended up with a really good set up at the end of the event. I’m thrilled to take our first win of the season in race one. We did all we could in race two, but after a great battle we couldn’t quite make the top step again. We’ve moved up to second place in the championship now which is good, and things are looking really positive for the next round at Oschersleben – it’s another double-race weekend so hopefully we can come away with more solid championship points. Thanks to all the team as usual for all their hard work, looking forward to the next one now.”

Tom Birchall: “Overall I’m really pleased with how the weekend has gone. Pannonia is really hard on tyres, so it’s always tricky to find the perfect set up. It was great to have a good fight with Reeves and Wilkes in both races – we did enough in the first race to take the win, but perhaps just got held up a little too long in the second to hunt them down and challenge for the win. Congratulations to them for their result but with the TT done now we can really focus on the world championship 100% and hope to take more wins at the next round.”

Round three of the 2019 FIM Sidecar World Championship will be held at Oschersleben, Germany from 20-21 July.

Results: 2019 FIM Sidecar World Championship – Round two, Pannonia Ring, Hungary

Sprint Race
1. Birchall/Birchall, LCR Yamaha, 18:14.116
2. Reeves/Wilkes, Adolf RS Yamaha, 18:14.452 +0.336
3. Paivarinta/Veravainen, LCR Yamaha, 18:17.475 +3.309

Gold Race
1. Reeves/Wilkes, Adolf RS Yamaha, 30:41.947
2. Birchall/Birchall, LCR Yamaha, 30:45.657 +3.710
3. Paivarinta/Veravainen, LCR Yamaha, 30:48.811 +6.864

Photo credit: Mark Walters

The post DOUBLE PODIUM SUCCESS FOR BIRCHALL RACING IN HUNGARY appeared first on Birchall Racing.

The race started well for the One Call Insurance supported team with Ben taking the holeshot into the first chicane. Heading onwards, under the Dunlop Bridge, the Birchall’s momentum was halted when an impetuous attempt at a pass by the second-placed outfit caused the two teams to collide, forcing the Birchall’s into a near-spin. Using his extensive skill and experience, Ben was able to quickly regain control of his LCR Yamaha but the incident had dropped the team down to fifth place.

Immediately setting off to retake the lead, Birchall Racing broke the lap record on two consecutive laps as they fought their way back to the front. Unfortunately, a clutch issue had arisen, slowing the outfit and restricting the team’s pace on the second half of the race. Despite the handicap, Ben and Tom enjoyed a fierce battle with Paivarinta and Veravainen right until the final lap.

In their final attack for the lead, the two outfits came together, which resulted in Ben and Tom falling behind, their clutch issue becoming worse. The team were able to nurse their outfit across the line to claim fourth, salvaging 13 valuable championship points. Not the win they had been hoping for, but with their machine otherwise performing superbly, the brothers could only take positives from the weekend.

Ben Birchall:“Of course it’s a little frustrating not to have come away with the win, especially as we had a pace advantage all weekend. We had a great battle with Pekka, which was really good fun. Obviously if that first-lap collision hadn’t happened the race would probably have been a bit different but it’s a shame not to finish on the podium as I felt we performed superbly and deserved it. Nevertheless, we came away with some solid points and put on a good show for the fans. The upgrades to the bike we have made over the winter break seem to be working really well and I really enjoyed myself out there. I’m looking forward to Hungary now and hopefully a top result and more championship points.”

Tom Birchall:“All-in-all we’ve had a fantastic start to the year – to go fastest in every session and claim pole position on the new bike is great. The race didn’t quite go to plan, but we had a great battle that went right down to the last lap, it’s just a shame we couldn’t convert it into a podium. Congratulations to the winners, it was a great fight so thank you to the FIM for giving us the opportunity to race at Le Mans once again in front of such a great crowd. We’ll look on to round two now and hopefully take that top step of the podium.”

Birchall Racing’s next event will be the first round of the British Sidecar Championship at Oulton Park on 4-6 May, before heading over to the Isle of Man for the 2019 TT Races towards the end of the month.

Results – 2019 FIM Sidecar World Championship – Round 1, Le Mans, France

1. Päivärinta/Vervainen, LCR Yamaha, 31:46.526
2. Reeves/Wilkes, Adolf RS Yamaha, 31:57.466 +10.940
3. Schlosser/Fries, LCR Yamaha, 31:58.595 +12.069
4.Birchall/Birchall, LCR Yamaha, 31:59.756 +13.230

Photo credit: Mark Walters

The post POSITIVE WEEKEND FOR BIRCHALL RACING AT LE MANS appeared first on Birchall Racing.

With only one point separating the leading two teams coming into the seventh round, the championship fight ultimately came down to one race – a showdown between the Birchall brothers and their closest rivals Tim Reeves and Mark Wilkes.

The whole weekend at the German circuit was bathed in sunshine with the track itself in perfect condition for racing. Ben and Tom had both worked incredibly hard to prepare their LCR Yamaha outfit and themselves for the race since the previous round in Croatia. Sidecar settings were tweaked and improved and the boys themselves were in their best condition mentally and physically going into the event – both knew that nothing less than a win would do.

Starting the weekend perfectly, Birchall Racing went on to top every single session on the 2.292-mile circuit, gradually improving their pace to ultimately claim pole position by well over half a second ahead of their nearest rivals.
Saturday’s evening race was held in beautiful conditions. With the top teams wishing each other luck before the start, nerves and adrenaline were high – the whole championship had come down to these final 21 laps. Birchall Racing made a great start from the front of the grid and entered the first series of corners in the lead. Using his skill and experience, Ben steered the Yamaha-powered machine flawlessly all the way to the chequered flag – never headed by the chasing outfits behind.

The win granted the brothers a third world title – their second consecutive championship victory – and confirmed their place in history as the first team to win both back-to-back world and TT titles in the same two years.

Ben Birchall: “To be honest, I can’t believe this has happened. We had a great year – the TT was incredible but a run of bad luck had put us a long way behind in the world championship chase. Everyone told me to never give up, and so we fought hard every single mile right to that final flag in Germany. Tim suffered some bad luck in those final two rounds, but that only matched what we had to go through at the beginning of the season. It’s going to take a little while to sink in, but we are already looking forward to next year and have some plans on how to improve the outfit a little more.

“I’m honoured to have three things that have come together to make our success this year possible – the best chassis from LCR, the best team behind me and without question the best passenger in the world. Tom has worked so hard and been outstanding at both the TT and world championship, it’s a pleasure to race with him and means so much to me. Finally, I can’t thank our sponsors, family and friends enough. We have such a loyal and passionate group of people behind us – none of what we do would be possible without them and it feels amazing to be able to reward them with results like this.”

Tom Birchall: “I have to say a big thank you to everyone who has stuck with us this year – it’s been a real up-and-down one for us. With three rounds to go it looked like we weren’t in with a chance for the title. We prepared like crazy on the run up to Germany, every night the lads helped us get things ready. All credit to Louis Christen for his help in setting up the bike, it’s great to be able to give him another world championship. It is such a big achievement to get the world title and the two TT wins in the same year – to be able to do it two years in a row is incredible. We have to dedicate it to all the fans and sponsors that make this happen, we simply couldn’t do it without them. I have to say a big thank you to Ben too, he has been amazing this year and worked so hard to get us where we are. It’s an honour to be part of such a successful team.”

Results – 2018 FIM Sidecar World Championship – Round 7, Oschersleben, Germany

Gold Race – 21 laps
1. Birchall/Birchall, LCR Yamaha
2. Päivärinta/Vervainen, LCR Honda
3. Streuer/Rousseau, LCR Kawasaki

Photo credit: Mark Walters

The post BIRCHALL RACING – 2018 FIM SIDECAR WORLD CHAMPIONS appeared first on Birchall Racing.

Held in glorious conditions at the Grobnik track near Rijeka in Croatia, the sixth round of the Sidecar World Championship could not have gone any better for the Mansfield-based brothers. Despite coming into the event with a sizeable points-deficit on the championship leaders, the Birchall’s determination to never give up paid off with them topping the standings in both practice and qualifying. Enjoying great pace on the track and with their LCR outfit performing perfectly, the brothers main aim was to take both race wins at the 4.168-kilometre track.

Following a red flag, Saturday’s Sprint Race was restarted for the full-distance 10-laps. Claiming the holeshot, Ben and Tom never looked back, taking their Craig Fitzpatrick prepared Yamaha to the chequered flag with a comfortable 10-second advantage over the second-placed team. Championship leaders Reeves and Wilkes unfortunately suffered engine failure during the course of the race and failed to make the finish giving the Birchalls a huge boost in the championship standings.

With renewed motivation, and their gap to the championship leaders reduced by 25 points, Ben and Tom went into Sunday’s Gold race knowing another good result would mean the title fight would move on to be decided at the final round. In 30-degree heat, the flag dropped and the Birchalls placed second into turn one. What followed was a close battle with rival Reeves for the entire first lap. Heading into lap two, Ben took the lead and once again was unchallenged for the remainder of the race, ultimately crossing the line with a commanding advantage of close to 29 seconds, setting a new lap record in the process. With Reeves and Wilkes suffering another DNF, Birchall Racing not only took maximum points for the weekend, but narrowed the gap in the championship to just one.

Ben Birchall: “I’m over the moon about the result here in Croatia, not just for myself and Tom but for the whole team and everyone who supports us. The hard work and long hours have really paid off and now we go to the final round with a great chance at clinching the championship. It was a long drive here, over the mountains of Austria and that journey mirrors the championship – we had a huge mountain to climb but we have made it and now we’re back in the fight. We have got some time now to prepare the outfit and ourselves for Germany. Hopefully we can carry this pace and form that has been with us since Assen into the final round and take the win.”

Tom Birchall: “What an amazing weekend! We came here with one goal and that was to do our best and fight for the wins. We did that and have come away with our championship campaign back on track and everything to fight for going into the last round. Thank you to all the team and sponsors, we would never be able to do this without them and hopefully can reward them with a top result in Germany.”

The seventh and final round of the 2018 FIM Sidecar World Championship will be held at Oschersleben in Germany on October 6.

Results – 2018 FIM Sidecar World Championship – Round 6, Grobnik, Croatia
Sprint Race – 10 laps
1. Birchall/Birchall, LCR Yamaha, 15:17.231
2. Päivärinta/Vervainen, LCR Honda, 15:27.923 +10.692
3. Streuer/Rousseu LCR Kawasaki, 15:40.991 +23.760

Gold Race – 18 laps
1. Birchall/Birchall, LCR Yamaha, 27:35.502
2. Streuer/Rousseu LCR Kawasaki, 28:04.430 +28.928
3. Päivärinta/Vervainen, LCR Honda, 28:06.681 +31.1

Photo credit: Mark Walters

The post THE FIGHT IS ON FOR BIRCHALL RACING FOLLOWING CROATIA DOUBLE WIN appeared first on Birchall Racing.

The sun shone down on Assen for round five of the FIM Sidecar World Championship. Starting early on Saturday morning, Birchall Racing went out on track and after bedding themselves and their machine in immediately began to set the pace. At the end of the first qualifying session they were the only team to break the one minute 45 second barrier.

Qualifying two also went the way of the Mansfield-based family team, enjoying a trouble-free session, the brothers posted a time of 1:44.099 – over a second faster than their nearest rivals.

Finding even more pace on Sunday’s morning warm-up, the Birchalls went into the Gold Race feeling confident of a top result. Firing off the line and grabbing the holeshot, the boys took the early lead and immediately pulled a second over the following pack. With their LCR Yamaha outfit handling perfectly on the famous Assen circuit Ben and Tom looked set to claim another world championship win.

Several laps into the race unfortunately, Ben noticed an issue with the bike. Although seemingly running well, the pair lost point-seven of a second in one lap, enabling the chasing outfit piloted by Tim Reeves to catch and pass them. With the issue momentarily rectifying itself what followed was a titanic battle between the two world champion drivers with over half a lap completed with their machines virtually side-by-side.

Swapping positions with Reeves for the next five laps, the technical issue began to worsen – Ben was unable to maintain the pace needed to fight for the win and was regrettably forced to back-off, ultimately crossing the line in third, salvaging valuable championship points.

Although the team have thankfully diagnosed the issue as a simple faulty throttle position sensor, they are understandably disappointed not to have converted their superior pace over the weekend into a race win.

Ben Birchall: “I am gutted we couldn’t take victory at Assen. Third place is still a great result but after all the hard work the team have put in preparing the machine over the last couple of months its disappointing not to reward them with a win. We did everything right all weekend and had a good advantage over the rest of the field. Unfortunately, despite fixing one issue that has bugged us all season, another small problem arose and meant we weren’t able to perform at 100% when it mattered. On a positive note, the bike was handling superbly and I think we put on a good show for the fans on the packed Assen grandstands. We’ll go back now and start preparing the bike for Croatia and hopefully we’ll be able to carry the speed we had from Assen into the last two rounds of the championship and come away with maximum points.”

Tom Birchall: “Obviously it’s so disappointing not to have come away with a win, especially after showing such dominating pace over the course of the event. Ben was driving really well and the team have done a great job on the sidecar – we were just let down by one small part. I’d like to thank everyone for supporting us and we’ll be back even stronger at the next world round at the beginning of September.”

The next event for Birchall Racing will be round six of the FIM Sidecar World Championship from Grobnik, Rijeka in Croatia on September 8-9.

Results – 2018 FIM Sidecar World Championship – Round 5, Assen, Netherlands

Gold Race – 17 laps
1. Reeves/Wilkes, Adolf RS Yamaha, 29:59.042
2. Päivärinta/Vervainen, LCR Honda, 30:01.676 +2.634 seconds
3. Birchall/Birchall, LCR Yamaha, 30:05.664 +6.622 secs

Photo credit: Mark Walters

The post MIXED FORTUNES FOR BIRCHALLS AT ASSEN appeared first on Birchall Racing.

Warm temperatures and clear skies greeted the teams as they arrived at the Pannonia Ring, Hungary for round four – the back-to-back rounds provided a real test for the riders and passengers as the championship reached its halfway stage.

Following a successful free practice, the Birchalls showed their intentions for the weekend by claiming pole position in Saturday’s qualifying session. Times were very tight between the top-three teams however and the Sprint Race looked set to be a closely-fought race.

Setting off full of confidence and hoping to carry the momentum that took the outfit to Gold Race victory just one week previously at the Sachsenring, rider Ben Birchall soon became aware the outfit was lacking the top speed necessary to fight for the win. Putting in a superb ride, Ben did his best to maintain his pace on the challenging Hungarian circuit and ultimately placed third, netting the team valuable championship points.

Working into the small hours overnight, Birchall Racing did their best to source and remedy the fault. Hopeful that the issue was fixed, the Mansfield based brothers made morning warm-up but when it came time to start their engine for Sunday’s Gold Race, the motor refused to fire. With the whole team again coming together to fix the problem the boys managed to get out in time to make the grid.

As the lights went out to mark the start of Sunday’s race, Ben and Tom got off the line well and had soon made their way into second place – the outfit seemingly performing perfectly. Unfortunately, on lap three the technical issue again reared its head and the LCR outfit cut out, spelling the end of the race for the team.

Taking positives from the tough weekend, and after finding the source of the technical issue, Ben and Tom will now regroup and look forward to the next round of the world championship at Assen in mid-August.

Ben Birchall: “I am really disappointed, but they are the highs and lows of racing. All in all, we have been lucky in recent years with a relatively trouble-free run for a long time. Unfortunately, this year we have had a couple of niggles that have hampered our progress in the defence of our world title. On the plus-side, we now know what the issue is and we have shown we have the pace to take wins when everything is going right. We’ll go home now and make some repairs to hopefully fix the issue once and for all. We’ll take the outfit out at the next round of the BSB championship at Brands Hatch to test things and hopefully will be rewarded with a good run out.”

Tom Birchall: “It’s always tough to come away from a meeting knowing you had the pace to take the win but weren’t able to do so – it’s genuinely disappointing. What makes it worse was all the hard work put in by the team overnight and we weren’t able to reward them with a good result on the Sunday. There are still plenty of points left in the championship to earn though, so we’ll get everything sorted and be back ready to take the fight to the others at the next world round at Assen.”

Results – 2018 FIM Sidecar World Championship – Round 4, Pannonia Ring, Hungary

Sprint Race – 9 laps
1. Reeves/Wilkes, Adolf RS Yamaha, 18:02.933
2. Päivärinta/Vervainen, LCR Honda, 18:06.678 +3.745
3. Birchall/Birchall, LCR Yamaha, 18:07.891 +4.958

Photo credit: Mark Walters

The post BIRCHALL BROTHERS CLAIM SPRINT RACE PODIUM IN HUNGARY appeared first on Birchall Racing.

In what proved to be a tricky weekend for the Mansfield based duo, hard work and determination paid off with a third place in Saturday’s Sprint Race followed by a commanding victory in Sunday’s Gold Race.

Heavy rain greeted the sidecar crews on arrival to the historic Sachsenring circuit on Friday for the first of the two qualifying sessions. With wet tyres the only sensible choice on the cold and saturated track, the Birchalls posted the third fastest time but hoped for better results on Saturday. The second qualifying session was held in the same horrendous conditions and the top three teams failed to improve on their original qualifying times set the day before.

The 12-lap Sprint Race also required the use of wet tyres – the rain had stopped but the track was still very damp and required the utmost care and skill to avoid any mistakes. Just a couple of laps into the race it was obvious to driver Ben Birchall that the set-up of their LCR Yamaha outfit was not ideal for the conditions. Despite the handling issues, Ben steered the sidecar home in third place, earning the pair valuable championship points.

Sunday dawned warm and dry at the Sachsenring circuit and left all sidecar crews with a difficult day ahead. With no dry track time from the whole of the weekend so far to produce data, set-up would be a combination of estimates and guesswork. Falling back to settings from the last time the FIM Sidecar World Championship was held at the German circuit in 2014, the Birchall brothers set out on their sighting lap. With a few more adjustments made prior to the start of the race, the Birchalls were unsure how the LCR chassis would perform on the long 19-lap main event.

As it happened, the team need not have worried. Riding superbly and with the skill that has earned multiple world championship and TT wins, Ben steered his way through the field. Following a close battle with fellow Brit Tim Reeves, Ben decided to make the pass and take the lead. With the outfit handling perfectly the Birchall brothers were able to gap Reeves and the rest of the competitors by approximately one second per lap. At the end of the race, Birchall Racing crossed the line with a 10.848-second advantage.

The win enables the team to close in on the championship leaders in the overall standings as the 2018 season nears its halfway stage at next weekend’s round four at the Pannoniaring in Hungary on June 30.

Ben Birchall: “That win felt really good – it was exactly what we needed to get our championship defence back on track. At the beginning of the weekend, in the wet conditions, we thought we had found a good set up and were planning on fighting for the win on Saturday’s Sprint race. It wasn’t until we got out on track that we realised the handling was off and we were suffering from some front-end understeer. I am pleased to have held on for the final spot on the podium but a little disappointed to be off the pace. Sunday was completely different. We took a risk by falling back to settings from 2014 but it paid off. The bike felt great and we were able to set our own pace and control the lead from the front. The lap times we were doing were on par with those we set in 2014, but back then we were running 1,000cc engines, so that’s really encouraging. It has been a great weekend at a great venue but now we go straight to Hungary for round five and hope to close in on the championship leaders even further.”

Tom Birchall: “That was a tough weekend for everyone I think. Ben rode really well, it was just a shame to struggle a little on Saturday. The Gold Race couldn’t have gone any better, settings were great and the Yamaha motor was pulling really well. It’s great to get another win and hopefully we can repeat the success next weekend in Hungary. I’d like to thank the team and everyone that supports us, without them success like this wouldn’t be possible.”

Results – 2018 FIM Sidecar World Championship – Round 3, Sachsenring, Germany

Gold Race – 19 laps
1. Birchall/Birchall, LCR Yamaha, 28:08.170
2. Reeves/Wilkes, Adolf RS Yamaha, 28:19.018 +10.848secs
3. Päivärinta/Vervainen, LCR Honda, 28:22.160 +13.990secs

Photo credit: Mark Walters

The post BIRCHALL BROTHERS TAKE THE WIN IN SACHSENRING appeared first on Birchall Racing.

The post Video: FIM Sidecar World Championship Round 2 – Slovakia Ring appeared first on Birchall Racing.

Off the pace in the first qualifying session, the team worked overnight to set up the Mitchells of Mansfield supported outfit to suit the new Slovakian track. Finding two-and-a-half seconds, the Birchalls claimed pole position in the second qualifying session, setting a new lap record in the process.

Unfortunately, an electrical issue caused the machine to stop soon after the start of the sprint race. After re-joining, a coming together with another competitor ended up damaging the Yamaha LCR outfit and the pair had no option but to pit and make repairs. Back out on track the Birchalls finished in 13th position and claimed three championship points.

Saturday’s Gold Race brought different fortunes as Ben and Tom enjoyed great pace in a four-way battle for the win. With the lead changing multiple times throughout the course of the 13-lap event the Birchalls did everything they could to take the lead while defending from the outfits behind. At the line the brothers were just pipped by the eventual winners by just point-four of a second.

The 20 points keep the Mansfield team firmly in the title hunt going into the next world round at the Sachsenring, Germany at the end of June.

Ben Birchall: “It feels really good, after such a tricky weekend to get second place and claim some strong championship points. I want to say thank you to Craig Fitzpatrick for all the help he gave us over the course of the event with the technical issues we had. Hopefully at the next round in Germany we’ll be able to go one better and take the top step of the podium. Until then our focus is now on the TT where we hope to repeat our performance of last year and come out with a couple more wins.”

Tom Birchall: “After a really tough start to the weekend it felt great to be able to fight for the win on Saturday. It was a shame we just got pipped at the line but it was a great battle with the other guys. We really enjoyed the new circuit – the Slovakia Ring is a great place to race at and provided some good competitive action for the fans. I’m looking forward to the TT now and hopefully we can get some more good results.”

Birchall Racing’s next outing will be the Isle of Man TT races held May 26 – June 8.

Results – 2018 FIM Sidecar World Championship – Round 2, Slovakia Ring, Slovakia

Sprint Race
1. Päivärinta/Vervainen, LCR Honda, 15:45.731
2. Reeves/Wilkes, Adolf RS Yamaha, 15:59.536 +13.805 seconds
3. Founds/Christie, LCR Yamaha, 16:01.261 +15.890 secs
13. Birchall/Birchall, LCR Yamaha, 16:23.322 +1 lap

Gold Race
1. Reeves/Wilkes, Adolf RS Yamaha, 29:07.918
2. Birchall/Birchall, LCR Yamaha, 29:08.319 +0.401 seconds
3. Streuer/Rousseau, LCR Kawasaki, 29:09.257 +1.369 secs

Photo credit: Mark Walters

The post SOLID RESULT IN SLOVAKIA AS BIRCHALL BROTHERS FINISH RUNNER-UP appeared first on Birchall Racing.