Ben and Tom Birchall from Mansfield were denied a sixth place finish to their first TT sidecar race when the outfit suffered a mechanical failure on the very last lap while they were holding a solid sixth place.


The practice week had gone well for the Mitchells of Mansfield/Dave Holden Racing duo and saw them post their quickest lap in the final session on Friday.

The race was scheduled for Saturday but heavy rain forced officials to cancel all racing on the day and re-arranged the Superbike TT and the Sidecar A event for Monday, the sidecars scheduled for a 2pm start...

The Birchall brothers were optimistic of a strong result but were understandably a little apprehensive as they lined up for the start – which was delayed a further 15 minutes to 2.15pm. Commenting just prior to the start Ben said: “I normally watch the racing on a video at home so it is a bit nerve wracking to be actually here and starting the race. But we are here in the flash and really looking forward to getting underway. We have had a good week so far and looking forward to a good ride today and whatever result we get is fine for our first time.”

Tom added: “I am a bit nervous now, but am looking forward to it and just want to get going.”

As they were sent down Bray Hill on their first lap the brothers took their time to get settled into a race pace and let the tyres warm up before stepping on the gas.

They had been moved up the order to eighth from 16th because of their excellent practice results but by the time they got to the first check point at Glen Helen they had dropped back to 14th. As they began to gain in confidence they began to edge their way back up and ended the first lap in 11th place posting a respectable lap time of 20m 49.80s 108.68mph from a standing start.

Lap two saw a number of front runners fall by the wayside and the Birchall Brothers gained a couple of places from their fellow competitors’ downfall. But they also gained in speed and passed Roy Hanks/Dave Wells on time at Ballaugh before moving further ahead and into sixth position at Ramsey.

As they crossed the line to start their final lap they had just about equalled their Friday qualifying time with a lap time of 20m 27.94s – 110.615mph and were running in a safe sixth place, well ahead on time of the outfit in seventh position.

But it was game over as the Birchalls joined the list of retirements, stopping at Hawthorne on the run to Glen Helen on the final lap with a mechanical failure.

At the time of going to press the brothers had not returned to the paddock so the team cannot be certain of the fault but as soon as they are able to get back when the roads open after some solo practice laps I will let you know.

The disappointed brothers have 24 hours to get the LCR Honda 600cc outfit up and running in time for a one lap practice on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s second and final assault of the TT course.