Eastern Airways British F1 Sidecar Championship Reeves and Birchall share the spoils at Donington Tim Reeves and Ben Birchall took a win apiece at an action packed Donington Park at the weekend in the latest round of the Eastern Airways British F1 Sidecar Championship. Both of the 10-lap races around the 2.5-mile GP circuit saw drama aplenty but it was Reeves and Birchall who got to stand on the top step of the podium, the former extending his championship lead further with just five races remaining. It was the Birchall, with brother Tom in the chair, that claimed pole position, some 0.723s clear of Reeves, but when the lights turned green for Saturday’s opening 10-lap race it was Reeves and passenger Gregory Cluze who grabbed the holeshot, eventually going on to record a start to finish victory, their tenth of the season. The Anglo-French pairing continually held a half second advantage over the Birchall’s before the latter ran wide after an overtaking manoeuvre at Coppice on lap 7 went awry. That gave Reeves and Cluze a 1.5s advantage with three laps to go and they were able to cruise home for a comfortable win, eventually taking the chequered flag by 4.3s. Birchall then ran into tyre problems and came under severe pressure from Roger Lovelock and Rick Lawrence and it was the latter who took second on the run in to the line, their advantage over the Birchall’s just 0.008s! Further back Andy Peach/Charlie Richardson took fourth after Scott Lawrie/James Neave retired on lap 8 whilst Craig Chaplow/Patrick Farrance finished in fifth after edging out Ben Bygrave/Calum Lawson on the final lap. Meanwhile, Ben Holland and Lee Watson put in a superb drive after spinning at Coppice on the opening lap and they came through the pack from dead last to claim a well earned ninth place. The second 10-lap affair on Sunday morning gave the Birchall’s the chance for revenge and they didn’t disappoint their legion of fans with a comfortable win of almost 4 seconds, the victory aided by a succession of record laps. However, they had to work hard and it was Reeves who again grabbed the holeshot but on lap 3 the Nottinghamshire brothers swept into the lead after a majestic move around the outside of his rival on the entrance to the Esses. Aided by an eventual new lap record of 1m35.229s, they pulled away for a 3.9s win, their third of the season. Reeves was secure in second and when Lovelock and Lawrence retired from a safe third on the sixth lap, Peach and Richardson were able to come through to claim the final podium spot. The main action throughout the race came from the group behind, particularly in the final two laps when Bygrave and Lawson spun out of fourth at the Old Hairpin and Holland and Watson went into the gravel trap at McLeans. Bygrave was able to regroup to take fifth behind Lawrie and Neave but he only just managed it after becoming embroiled in a tough battle with John Clarke/Stuart Graham, Phil Bell/Ashley Hawes and Chaplow/Farrance. Clarke and Bell collided at Goddards on the final lap and in the ensuing melee, Chaplow snuck through for a strong sixth whilst Clarke quickly got going to take seventh. Bell eventually finished in tenth. With a win and a second place, Reeves and Cluze also received the Steve Norbury Trophy whilst victory on Sunday saw the Birchall’s win the Bill Boddice Trophy. With two rounds of the series now remaining, Reeves and Cluze head the way with a whopping 350 points (out of a possible 375!) and they lead Lawrie by an equally impressive 152 points. The Birchall’s are up to third with 191 and they’re followed in quick succession by Lovelock (167), Peach (164) and Bell (148). The next round sees the chairs again line up alongside the British Superbike Championship with the penultimate round taking place at Silverstone on September 23-25. More, from a press release issued by Birchall Brothers Racing: A WIN AND A THIRD PLACE FOR BIRCHALL RACING AT DONINGTON Mansfield brothers Ben and Tom Birchall took a third place in race one going on to win the second race in round six of the Eastern Airways British F1 Sidecar championship at Donington Park at the weekend to edge to within seven points of the runner up spot held by Scott Lawrie and James Neave. The Mitchells of Mansfield brothers timed their qualifying to perfection setting the fastest lap of the session on their final lap of 1m 36.611 seconds to snatch pole from under the nose of championship leaders Tim Reeves and Gregory Cluze. As race one set off on Saturday afternoon Ben and Tom settled into second place to follow Reeves/Cluze for the majority of the 10 laps. The pair pulled clear of the pursuing pack and the Birchalls set about reeling in the leaders. At the half way stage of the race Ben and Tom rounded Melbourne alongside their opponents but were unable to make the move stick. Next time around they passed the leaders at Coppice but instantly slowed allowing Reeves back through. It was obvious the Mansfield pair had struck trouble and although they kept going they were caught by Lovelock/Lawrence who passed them at the Melbourne loop on the final lap. Although the Birchalls put in a brave effort they were just beaten to the finish line by the smallest of gaps eight thousandths of a second separating them from second place. After the race Ben explained the problem: “As we went to take the lead I felt there was something wrong and it turned out to be a puncture in the rear tyre. We managed to nurse the outfit home and just missed out on second place.” With the tyre replaced Ben and Tom went out for race two confident they had the pace to win this time. They began the second race on Sunday morning from the second row of the grid and moved up to second as they rounded Redgate for the first time. But they were right on the back wheel of Reeves/Cluze who held a slender lead and after allowing time for the tyres to come up to temperature Ben made his move passing Reeves at the Esses on lap three. From there they never faltered and set the fastest lap of the race on the next lap and again on the next two circulations to break the existing lap record by just under a second with a time of 1m 35.229s 94.03mph. The pair pulled clear of Reeves and crossed the finish line 3.9seconds ahead to take the win, maximum points and win the Bill Boddice Trophy for a fourth time. “We felt strong for the second race and put into practice what we knew we could achieve. Once we got in front we just rode off the pit board and brought the bike home for the win. We are really pleased to win the Bill Boddice Trophy for the fourth time and also delighted we could win at our home track of Donington Park. It is good that we were able to produce a win for all our sponsors and friends that came to support us over the weekend.” The next round is at Silverstone but the Birchall brothers will have to give that a miss as they travel to Le Mans for the final round of the world championship where they are currently holding second place. Although the title has already gone the way of Paivarinta and Hanni, a good result at Le Mans will clinch the runner up spot for the team who take part in the final world championship race on Saturday, September 24.