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.

The post Video: FIM Sidecar World Championship Round 1 – Le Mans appeared first on Birchall Racing.

The Mitchells of Mansfield supported team were immediately fast on the 4.185km Bugatti Circuit. Under the hot French sun and with the track in perfect condition, the Birchall brothers went quickest on Thursday’s free practice.

Backing that up by setting the fastest time in both Friday’s timed sessions, it looked like the pairing had the measure of the circuit and their competitors – their pole time being over half-a-second quicker than their nearest rival.

With the bike performing perfectly, the Birchalls went into Saturday’s race as clear favourites. Unfortunately, after not hooking up so well from the start, the 2017 Sidecar World Champions were fifth going into the first corner. Getting his head down and keeping to a fast, consistent pace, Ben Birchall steered the Yamaha powered LCR outfit through the field, eventually reaching second position on lap three – breaking the circuit lap record in doing so.

The race then played out with the Birchalls trying everything they could to safely pass the leaders, Tim Reeves and Mark Wilkes. Despite having the best pace on the day, it wasn’t meant to be and after a fierce battle for the lead over 14 laps the Mansfield team crossed the line in second.

Although disappointed not to have taken the win, the Birchalls were happy with their speed and the performance of their machine.

Ben Birchall: “I’m gutted not to have taken the win, especially after having such excellent pace all weekend. The team, the bike and the engine were perfect, it was just a small mistake from me that cost us those valuable positions from the start. I tried my best in every way possible to recover and get back to the front, but I couldn’t quite do it. We’ll build off this and come back stronger at the next round – I certainly won’t make the same mistake again. The atmosphere at Le Mans was incredible, the crowds were massive and the weather was perfect – it was a real thrill to race there. We’ll concentrate now on our TT bike and get that prepped for the end of May following round two of the world championship in Slovakia. Thanks to all our sponsors and supporters, hopefully we can go one better next time.”

Tom Birchall: “Overall it was a great weekend. It felt good to be racing the world championship again and Le Mans was amazing. Obviously, it’s frustrating not to have taken the win, especially after our pace was so good from day one. On a positive note, it shows that all the hard work we put in over the weekend has paid off, especially to be over point-five of a second faster in qualifying. I think in the race we just put too much heat in the tyres after the bad start and by the time we caught up with Tim, it just wasn’t possible to get by. We’ll look forward to the next round in Slovakia and hopefully take the win.”

Birchall Racing’s next outing will be the second round of the British Sidecar Championship held at Oulton Park on 5-7 May.

Results – 2018 FIM Sidecar World Championship – Round 1, Le Mans, France

1. Reeves/Wilkes, Adolf RS Yamaha, 29:59.128
   2. Birchall/Birchall, LCR Yamaha, 29:59.643 +0.515 seconds
   3. Päivärinta/Vervainen, LCR Honda, 30:14.596 +15.468

Photo credit: Mark Walters

The post STRONG START TO 2018 FIM SIDECAR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FOR BIRCHALL RACING appeared first on Birchall Racing.

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

The post BIRCHALL BROTHERS TAKE DECISIVE WIN AT LE MANS appeared first on Birchall Racing.