Originally due to take place on Friday June 7 – Senior Race Day – the second of the two sidecar races was brought forward to the action-packed Thursday slot due to the inclement weather forecast to arrive on the Friday afternoon. As part of Thursday’s hectic schedule, the three-lap race was cut to two and presented an exciting challenge to all competitors.

In arguably the best conditions of the fortnight, the Birchall brothers set off down Bray Hill with rivals Holden and Cain hot on their heels. At the first timing check at Glen Helen, only one second separated the two front-runners – the Birchalls with the advantage.

With all teams taking time to adjust to the track conditions and lighter initial fuel load, times were close on the way into Ramsey. Rounding the hairpin with a 2.757-second lead, Ben got his head down once again for the climb up the mountain. Getting the perfect drive out of Ramsey and hitting every apex over the short circuit style mountain section, Birchall Racing completed their first lap at an average of 118.38 mph, extending their advantage over the second-placed outfit to over 10 seconds.

Maintaining a consistent pace on the second and final lap, the Birchalls brought their Haith / Live Your Adventure supported LCR Honda safely home over 20 seconds ahead of Holden and Cain. Earning their second win of the week – their 10th in total – gave the brothers the perfect result at the end of a tricky fortnight. The Mansfield-based pair won both races, led every lap and posted the fastest lap time in each of the two outings – an incredible achievement that is only made possible by the hard work and preparation of the entire team.

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 is made up by LCR machines.

Birchall Racing head into Signpost corner on the way to their 10th TT win – Photo: Mark Walters

Ben Birchall: “It’s feels great to get another TT double, it’s a real honour to have equalled the win record of a legend such as Rob Fisher. It takes a lot of work, but it’s not just me and Tom, Jim and Ed have had as many wins as we have and we couldn’t do it without them. Most of our sponsors have done the same too, it’s fantastic that we can keep doing what we do and rely on the constant support of so many. It’s been an amazing TT for us, but I’m thankful for some time to relax. We have a world championship to defend now, but I’m already looking forward to coming back next year.”

Tom Birchall: “It’s all been a bit of a dream really, it’s difficult to find the words, to win 10 now is unbelievable. We all put everything into it, families, supporters everyone – they are with us through the bad times so it’s good to be able to reward them with the good times like this. The TT consumes you for so long on the run up to the event, it’s all you ever think about. To be successful here takes an incredible amount of work and you never get it 100% right – you are always learning. When it comes together there’s no feeling like it, the conditions out there were beautiful and it’s great to see so many crowds cheering you on.”

Full results here.

Photo credit: Mark Walters

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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

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The race started on time but an incident on the first lap caused the red flag to be shown and a full-restart was necessary. With the teams given time to regroup, the starter eventually dropped his flag at 7pm on Saturday evening.

Pushing hard straight from the start, the Birchalls had already opened up a gap of 2.1 seconds over the second-placed pairing of John Holden and Lee Cain by Glen Helen, just over nine miles into the course. They continued to pull away from the field opening up a lead of over 13 seconds at the end of lap one and in doing so, broke their own lap record with an average speed of 117.502mph.

Lap two continued with Ben and Tom setting a sensational pace, doubling their lead over Holden and Cain to a comfortable 26.1 seconds at the end of the lap. Their average speed over the 37.75-mile second lap increased to a stunning 118.694mph in a time of 19m 04.353s.

Posting an average speed of 117.771mph on the third and final lap, the Birchalls continued to increase their lead over the eventual runners-up Holden and Cain. The win is the seventh for the Mansfield-based team and the fourth consecutive victory following their 2016 win and their double a year later in 2017.

Birchall Racing will now concentrate on the Locate.im Sidecar TT race two, held on Friday June 8 – Senior Race day.

Ben Birchall: “I really enjoyed that – what a race. You never really know what pace you can run around the Isle of Man, you just have to take things as smoothly as you can, hit every apex and not make any mistakes. Tom has been faultless and the team have been incredible, supporting us and enabling us to be here so I can’t thank them enough.”

Tom Birchall: “What an incredible race – it’s hard to take it all in really. The pace was so hot after the restart but Ben drove superbly and the whole race was pretty much flawless. After a difficult practice week, the first race can always be a bit tricky. The first lap before the red flag was not so great but, on the restart, Ben got his head down and the speed just comes when everything clicks like that. I have to thank our whole team, sponsors and families as it takes a lot of hard work to get here and be competitive and we couldn’t do it without such a great group of guys and girls behind us.”

Results – 2018 Isle of Man Locate.im Sidecar TT Race 1

1. Birchall/Birchall, LCR Honda, 57:33.635
2. Holden/Cain, LCR Honda, 58:20.767
3. Reeves/Wilkes, LCR Honda, 58:42.668

Photo credit: Mark Walters

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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

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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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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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First race up was the World championship round where they were racing as champions elect having secured the F2 Trophy in the last round. Ben and Tom qualified for a third row start in the mixed grid of riders, the FIM F1 World championship and the FIM World F2 Trophy. The Mansfield pair were the fastest of the F2 runners and as the lights went out they moved into sixth place overall and first in class. On lap three they overtook Brian Gray on a F1 machine and held station to the chequered flag at the end of a very fast and furious 15 lap affair, taking the win in the World F2 Trophy class.

In the first of three British Sidecar 600 cup races the laps were cut to eight instead of 10 to make up for time lost when a fellow competitor broke down on the warm up lap. At the start they settled into sixth place overall and were elevated to fifth when one outfit was black flagged. They were right on the tail of Archer/Thomas and as they approached the finish line were just about level, crossing the line just two tenths of a second behind in eighth place to secure another victory in the 600 Cup

In the second affair they started from the third row and completed the 10 lap race in seventh place – and a win in the 600 cup. Ben and Tom then started from the fourth row in their final race and after dicing with Walker/Hawes for a few laps they finally passed them to finish the 10 laps in sixth position overall and take their fourth win of the weekend in their own class.

At the end of the day they were presented with their Gold Medals for their outstanding results in the World Trophy where they headed the qualifying charts, won every race and broke the lap record at every circuit in the F2 Trophy class – an amazing achievement for the Mansfield brothers.

Ben said: “Tom and I plus all the team are thrilled to be presented with our world championship Gold Medals on home soil; also to secure the British 600 Sidecar Cup this weekend. It’s a great end to our season. We have to thank our sponsors and supporters for their continued support. We have so much confidence in the bike, it’s been perfect all season and the data we have gained from this season will help us when we challenge for the new format World championship and British title in 2017.

“We have had a fantastic season as we also won at the Isle of Man TT again this year. We are delighted to be able to help Steve Smith at Avon tyres who is auctioning a TT memorabilia poster containing signed photos of some of this year’s riders including us. It is being auctioned by Damon Hill OBE to raise money for Downs Syndrome Association online on Thursday, September 22 a link to place a bid please check out www.DHgolfclassic-auction.com 

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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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The F2 World Trophy race is run within the gird of the F1 World championship and after taking pole in their class the Mitchells of Mansfield supported brothers began their campaign from the third row in sixth position overall.

As the lights went out at the start of the 17 lap affair Ben and Tom settled into seventh place behind Holden/Ramsey. When John Holden was forced out after a spin on lap 10 the Mansfield pair were elevated to sixth overall and first in class by a large margin.

Ben and Tom maintained their sixth position and crossed the finish line to take their sixth win in the F2 World Trophy class well ahead of their nearest rivals Guignard/Poux who completed the race in 19th place overall.

Ben commented:

We had another great weekend here at Assen. The event was really well organised and there was a huge crowd to watch the sidecar race.

The bike ran well and we were really happy with its performance; we now look forward to Oschersleben and to hopefully continue our winning ways.

Ben and Tom Birchall have extended their series lead in the F2 World Trophy and having won all six races to date look almost certain to take the World Trophy at the end of the season.

The next round is at Oschersleben in Germany on August 27/28 where the team will have two races to contest. The final round of the championship that will decide the title is on home tarmac at Donington Park when Ben and Tom will be riding in front of their home crowd and sponsors at the British Superbike meeting on September 17.

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