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.

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.

The Mitchells of Mansfield supported brothers had a perfect run setting a time of 1m 33.769s during qualifying to secure a third row start in the mixed grid of riders for the start of the 12 lap Sprint race. Ben said: “It has all gone perfectly for us today and once again we are the top F2 Trophy team on the grid.”

In blazing hot sunshine Ben and Tom set off in the Sprint race and soon overtook F1 team Dechamp/Peugeot but as they closed down on Gray/Christie the red flag brought the race to a halt. At the restart, now run over nine laps, Ben and Tom got a fantastic start and were soon locked in a fierce, race long battle with the two F1 outfits of Streuer/Daalguison and Holden Wilkes with the Mansfield pair eventually bringing the LCR Honda 600 home in seventh place overall but a decisive victory in the F2 class.

Another good start in the 20 lap Gold race saw Ben and Tom fight their way through to sixth place overall and to finally cross the finish line in fifth at the end of the 20 lap affair to claim another maximum points result in the F2 class. Having won all the races to date and with 200 points now on the board no one can catch them and they were pronounced champions.

Ben said:

“It has been a fantastic weekend for us and we are really pleased with the way it’s gone.

The team has worked hard throughout the weekend and we have made more progress with the bike. We are all thrilled to bits to have won both races and sealed the world championship.

We are both looking forward to our home round at Donington Park when we are to be presented with the world championship trophy, what a nice way to end our world championship season.”

The final round is at Donington Park with the British Superbike championship on September 17 and the Mansfield pair will celebrate their world title on home Tarmac.

pic credit Wally Walters

The post Birchall Racing Clinch World Title at Oschersleben appeared first on Birchall Racing.

Ready to go

Fresh from their two week racing break, Ben and Tom are on their European travels once again as they return to the FIM fold.

The Oschersleben circuit which hosts this round, is the third best known German Circuit after the Nürburgring and Hockenheim but it has only been open since 1997. This relatively new circuit has previously seen success for the Birchalls, they took a double win here and broke the lap record 3 times in the same weekend in 2013

Having said that, Oschersleben, in the former East Germany is an unfamiliar hunting ground for team Mansfield as they’ve only raced there a handful of times in the past but Ben and Tom won’t let that stop their march toward another class win. Should the boys continue the form they’ve shown in previous outings it’s difficult to see them making anything other than a huge stride towards Championship glory.

With a full 56 points between the flying Mansfield duo and their nearest rivals, it’s surely just a matter of time now before another Championship is in the bag.  With the 4th place team of Rosinger/Werner racing on home soil, it’s going to be a tough ask for Backmeier and Wechselberger to pull back any points on Ben and Tom.

The Oschersleben Circuit

Motorsport Arena Oschersleben can be found on the eastern outskirts of the town of Oschersleben, around 20 miles southwest of Magdeburg in central Germany. The nearest international airports are at Leipzig/Halle (77 miles/124 kms to the south) or Hanover (88 miles/140 kms to the west).

The circuit can be reached via the A2 Hanover-Berlin autobahn, exit Eilsleben or Wanzleben and follow the signs for the circuit, which is located around 25 kms from the motorway.  Parking is available at the circuit for a small charge.

You can also arrive by train.  The nearest station is at Oschersleben, with connections to Magdeburge and the Berlin-Hannover ICE express train.  The circuit is a short taxi ride from the circuit.

What to expect from the weekends weather

It’s going to be a tricky weekend for the Birchalls and the rest of the teams in Germany. With temperatures forecast in the early to mid thirties Celsius, it’s not only going to be hard on the bikes but it’s going to be stiflingly hot for the competitors in race leathers and helmets.

There’s very little chance of rain for this weekend and only a moderate breeze to cool the spectators so if you’re travelling to Germany to watch the boys, don’t forget your sun protection.

Live timing

At this point we are rather light on information regarding live timing and that sort of thing, so please bare with us.

We will constantly update facebook as soon as we know anything, so be sure to head over there and give the boys a like. Click the pic below of Ben and Tom celebrating a win in Germany to be taken to the facebook page

Ben and Tom celebrate victory in 2012

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