Sidecar stars Ben and Tom Birchall rode to a splendid second and fourth place finish in the second round of the 2009 Yokohama/ACU British F11 Sidecar Championship at Brands Hatch over the Easter weekend but despite breaking the lap record have relinquished their series lead and go into the next round just one point behind new leaders Nick Crowe and Mark Cox.
 
The Mitchells of Mansfield sponsored duo were on the pace throughout the weekend posting fast lap times throughout the qualifying periods but were denied a front row start because instead of the usual three outfits to a row, Brands Hatch is reduced to two and as the pair finished in third place they were placed on row two.
 
The first of the two 15-lap races saw Ben and Tom not get away to the best of starts and they settled into fifth position for the duration of lap one.
 
But as they found their pace the brothers moved ahead of Coombes/Knapton to chase after Dongworth/Partridge who were holding third place. After a close battle Ben and Tom forged ahead at Graham Hill Bend and concentrated on reeling in the two leading outfits a few yards ahead.
 
By lap seven the Mansfield pair broke the lap record, posting a time of 51.036s and one lap later shaved a further second from their lap times to establish a new lap record of 50.86s.
 
This spurt of speed paid off as by lap nine of 15 they were right on the tail of multi-TT winners Crowe/Cox, moving ahead into second place at Graham Hill bend one lap later.
 
With four laps remaining the Birchall Brothers began to catch the leading outfit of Reeves and Farrance but misjudged their line at Clearways and ran wide losing ground. They quickly recovered and took the chequered flag in fourth place.
 
Race two saw Ben and Tom move straight into second place on the opening lap, following in the tyre tracks of Crowe/Cox for the duration of the race which was red-flagged and a result declared at positions on lap 10.
 
Crowe/Cox were declared the winners and the 25 points gained meant they now hold the series lead by just one point from Ben and Tom Birchall who come away from Brands Hatch with the new lap record registered to them.
 
“It’s been another superb weekend for us,” said Ben. “Yesterday was unfortunate, it was my own fault as I made a mistake while fighting for the lead but we brought it home in fourth place – but it ultimately cost us the series lead. The second race was also a good result although I think we were beginning to make inroads on the leading outfit when the race was stopped early.
 
“I would like to say a massive thank you to Mitchells of Mansfield and also John Lawson who provided a couple of tyres for this weekend, without them we would have been struggling. We are thrilled to bits that we have established a new lap record and we are now looking forward to Cadwell Park on May 4th and another good set of results which will enable us to regain the championship lead.”