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

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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.

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The Mansfield brothers were fastest in their class and set off in the 10 lap sprint race on Saturday to take the lead, mixing it with the bigger engine machines throughout the race. Their consistency was rewarded with a win in the F2 World Trophy and a fantastic fourth place overall.

Sunday Gold Race

In the 15 lap Gold race on Sunday the Mitchells of Mansfield supported pair soon overhauled Roscher/Burkard and gave chase to Streuer/Koerts, the two teams running side by side for a while before Ben and Tom finally made their move stick; they then caught John Holden to move into fifth place overall, well ahead of their nearest rival in their own class.

The Mansfield brothers began their chase to catch the riders ahead and were almost on them when the red flag brought proceedings to a halt. As the race had gone to two thirds distance a result was called at 10 laps distance giving the Birchalls the win once again and fifth place overall.

Ben said: “We had some battle with Streuer and Holden and we are really happy with the result. It’s been an exhausting few weeks as since we returned from the Isle of Man in June we have recorded over 1000 racing miles and a three and a half thousand mile round trip to Croatia and Hungary!”

Having won all five races in the three rounds so far, Ben and Tom Birchall have a commanding lead in the F2 World Trophy with a score of 125 points with the next round at Assen in Holland on August 7.

Meanwhile the Birchalls return to domestic action where they contest a round of the British championship that takes place at Snetterton in Norfolk on July 10 after which they set off to the Isle of Man for the Southern 100 races which start the next day and run from July 11-14.

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