TT 2018: Record-breaking Birchall brothers in class of their own with Sidecar triumph

Ben and Tom Birchall were in a class of their own in Saturday's first Sidecar TT as they powered to a record-breaking victory.
By The Newsroom
Published 3rd Jun 2018, 22:12 BST
Updated 26th Jun 2018, 14:46 BST
Ben and Tom Birchall dominated the opening Sidecar TT race on Saturday.Ben and Tom Birchall dominated the opening Sidecar TT race on Saturday.
Ben and Tom Birchall dominated the opening Sidecar TT race on Saturday.

The Mansfield brothers twice smashed their own lap record in successive laps, rasing the benchmark to a blistering 118.694mph on the IEG Racing Honda.

They could afford to ease off slightly on lap three as they closed out victory by 47 seconds from John Holden and Lee Cain.

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Holden’s wife, Fiona Baker-Holden and driver Tony Baker were involved in a red flag incident in the initial start, which caused the race to be delayed until 7pm.

Mansfield brothers Ben and Tom Birchall were in a class of their own on the IEG Racing Honda.Mansfield brothers Ben and Tom Birchall were in a class of their own on the IEG Racing Honda.
Mansfield brothers Ben and Tom Birchall were in a class of their own on the IEG Racing Honda.

Baker sustained a broken leg while his passenger escaped with soft tissue damage.

Race winner Ben said: “I had a bit of a scrappy first lap but once I settled down, the race was faultless.

“Chris Mehew has built us some great engines and so many people have helped us out so it’s great to repay them with another win.

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“Tom was absolutely awesome and holding on at those speeds is good going. The place never stops evolving and we never stop improving so it was a great race.”

Holden and Cain were 21.901s ahead of Tim Reeves and Mark Wilkes (Carl Cox Motorsport Honda) on corrected time.

Peter Founds beat brother Alan into fourth, who had to stop to make adjustments in the pits at the end of lap one.

Dave Molyneux and Dan Sayle were forced to retire the DMR Yamaha at the end of the opening lap as they held sixth position.