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 series takes place within the F1 championship grid and the F2 cup riders race alongside the more powerful F1 machines but are separated on the result sheets to their own respective championships. The team have a 600cc Honda engine housed in their long LCR chassis especially built to contest the world and British F2 cup championships

Throughout free practice and qualifying the Mitchell’s of Mansfield supported brothers dominated proceedings and qualified as fastest F2 by over four seconds and were fifth overall to start the 12 lap race from the third row of the mixed grid of riders.

Image Credit: Dave Yeomans

The weather was abysmal throughout the weekend but the skies cleared in time for the race late on Monday afternoon. As the lights went out Ben and Tom slotted into sixth place overall and were leading the F2 class by a good margin. One lap later they were up to fifth and on lap nine they moved into fourth overall. They held their position throughout the remainder of the race to cross the finish line for a decisive win of over 30 seconds from Founds/Walmsley who were the second Cup riders over the finish line. Amazingly the Birchall brothers finished in fourth place overall beating many of the more powerful F1 machines who were using a 1000cc engine compared to the 600cc of the Birchalls.

It was a busy weekend for the team because as their race at Oulton was late in the day, they took the opportunity of nipping over to Darley Moor which is only an hour away to do some testing with their TT outfit in preparation for the TT festival which takes place at the beginning of June.

Ben commented: “What a great weekend we had at Oulton Park. We are really pleased with the development of our new style bike. It’s really great to be racing within the British Superbike paddock again and we were all made very welcome. Thanks to all our loyal sponsors and supporters who came along to watch us over the weekend.”

The next race for Birchall Racing will be the second round of the British cup championship at Brands Hatch on May 22 and the team then move over to the Isle of Man where last year they recorded a winning double.

The post Birchall Racing Show their class at Oulton Park appeared first on Birchall Racing.

• Former champions return to the world stage for 2016
• Team Mansfield to lead the transition to an all 600cc grid
• Squad gearing up for full season including BSB and TT challenges

Former FIM World Sidecar Champions Ben and Tom Birchall will return to the series under a new banner – Team Mansfield – as they spearhead a period of revolution for the series. The 2016 season will see a combination of 600cc and 1000cc machines, with the Birchall brothers leading the way in the 600cc category which will become the sole format for 2017.

Following discussions with the sport’s governing body –the FIM – Team Mansfield will launch a full campaign in 2016 incorporating all of the World Championship events as well as taking on the British championship and Isle of Man TT.

Team Mansfield will be the main agent preparing the 600cc machines manufactured by LCR. The squad will draw on its extensive experience of the Honda engine to ensure a world-class standard of supply, and with the blessing of the FIM will be at the forefront of the transitional period in international sidecar racing.

Winners of the Final round of the FIM World Championship at Le Mans Photo by Wally Walters

“It’s really exciting!” said Ben. “The FIM approached us to take the lead role in this new 600cc class and it’s really got us fired up for 2016. It’s a new challenge and it’s looking to the future of sidecar racing – it will bring the level of the World Championship which is struggling up to that of the British series which is in a great place.

“We’ve had lots of success in the past and this is going to be a real challenge. With the 1000cc bikes alongside us it provides us with a great opportunity to have a development year in 2016 ready for a full-on assault in 2017. We’ve got some really exciting plans in the pipeline and we can’t wait to get started – from a commercial point of view we really want to make the most of our local ties, and we’re well on our way to putting Team Mansfield on the map.”

Former FIM World Sidecar Champions Ben and Tom Birchall will return to the series under a new banner – Team Mansfield – as they spearhead a period of revolution for the series. The 2016 season will see a combination of 600cc and 1000cc machines, with the Birchall brothers leading the way in the 600cc category which will become the sole format for 2017.

Following discussions with the sport’s governing body –the FIM – Team Mansfield will launch a full campaign in 2016 incorporating all of the World Championship events as well as taking on the British championship and Isle of Man TT.

Team Mansfield will be the main agent preparing the 600cc machines manufactured by LCR. The squad will draw on its extensive experience of the Honda engine to ensure a world-class standard of supply, and with the blessing of the FIM will be at the forefront of the transitional period in international sidecar racing.

“It’s really exciting!” said Ben. “The FIM approached us to take the lead role in this new 600cc class and it’s really got us fired up for 2016. It’s a new challenge and it’s looking to the future of sidecar racing – it will bring the level of the World Championship which is struggling up to that of the British series which is in a great place.

“We’ve had lots of success in the past and this is going to be a real challenge. With the 1000cc bikes alongside us it provides us with a great opportunity to have a development year in 2016 ready for a full-on assault in 2017. We’ve got some really exciting plans in the pipeline and we can’t wait to get started – from a commercial point of view we really want to make the most of our local ties, and we’re well on our way to putting Team Mansfield on the map.”

The post Birchall brothers spearhead sidecar revolution with Team Mansfield Racing appeared first on Birchall Racing.