BIRCHALL BROTHERS WIN AT CADWELL Current world champions Ben and Tom Birchall travelled to Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire for round four of the Eastern Airways Battle of Britain Sidecar championship on Sunday where they took two decisive victories plus a fourth place to bring their points tally to 162 and edge nearer to the series lead. After missing round three because of injury they lost out on 75 championship points and the Mitchells of Mansfield supported world champions knew they had to score well to remain in contention for the title. The pair qualified on pole position and began race one on Saturday from the head of the field where they remained in charge over the first few laps. They were overhauled by Reeves/Cluze but after following them around for a while the Birchall brothers decided it was time to make a move and shot past to regain their lead and build up a comfortable buffer of 13 seconds which they maintained to the chequered flag. Race two on Sunday was a dramatic affair with Ben and Tom battling it out with Reeves/Cluze. But despite frequent attempts to overtake, Reeves was unable to make the move stick and the world champions remained at the front. But with two laps to go things took a dramatic turn when Ben lost the rear at the top of Charlie’s bend and spun off. Reeves followed suit and ended up reversing into the tyre wall. By this time the rest of the field had caught and passed the stricken pair who both managed to get their outfits going again and continue on their way. Ben gave chase to the pack and pulled himself back up to fourth place at the chequered flag at the end of an exciting and eventful 10 laps. Race three turned out to be another exciting and close race with the Birchalls again starting from pole position. They held the lead and were beginning to pull away when the race was red flagged because of an accident further downfield. At the restart things didn’t go quite to plan and Ben and Tom found themselves in third place during the opening lap but they soon found their form and took over the second place position behind Reeves who had begun to pull away. Ben made chase and was edging his way nearer to the leaders on the final lap. But just as they thought they would pick up the runner up spot Reeves slowed and stopped with a mechanical problem leaving Ben and Tom to cruise to the chequered flag and take their second win of the weekend. “We have had a good weekend of racing here at Cadwell,” said Ben. “I am still troubled a bit with my injuries but that doesn’t appear to have held me back at all and we managed to secure three good results which have moved us a lot closer to the front than we were. I would like to say a big thank you to all my sponsors who came over to Cadwell this weekend to support us. We really needed those results, it’s just what we wanted on coming back from injury!” On arrival at Cadwell Ben and Tom trailed the series leaders by a massive 94 points but after two wins and a fourth place they left the Lincolnshire venue having reduced the gap to 31 with four rounds remaining. The next round is at Brands Hatch over the Bank holiday weekend when the Mansfield world champions will be anxious to close the gap even further. More, from a press release issued by Ryan Farquhar’s publicist: Four more wins for Farquhar at Armoy! The Ryan Farquhar success train showed no signs of slowing down at the weekend when the KMR Kawasaki rider added four more wins to his 2010 collection. The Dungannon rider was competing at the second running of the Armoy road races and with victories in the Grand Final, Open, Super Twins and 450 races, as well as runner-up spot in the Supersport 600cc race, it was another superb day’s racing for the 34-year old. After Friday’s practice sessions were almost entirely wiped out by poor weather, Saturday didn’t get off to the greatest starts when more damp weather meant the riders had just a handful of untimed practice laps under their belt before racing got underway. Thankfully, the weather improved and the roads were completely dry when racing commenced. First up for Ryan was the 6-lap 450cc race which he comfortably won on his KX450 Kawasaki from Seamus Elliott and he followed this up with a close fought second to Keith Amor in the Supersport 600cc race, the Scotsman just coming out on top on the last lap by 0.157s. Ryan’s third race of the day was the Open race and, after grabbing the lead on the opening lap, he was able to control affairs from the front of the field and got the better of Amor on this occasion by 2.024s. The penultimate race of the day was the Super Twins race which saw Ryan get his third win, coming home over seven seconds clear of Michal Dokoupil and that just left the ‘Race of Legends’ Grand Final where he again went head to head with Amor. The duo went at it hammer and tongs throughout with Amor opening up a lead of 4-5 bike lengths on the last lap but as the duo approached the final corner, two backmarkers had to be negotiated and whilst Amor went on the outside, Ryan dived up the inside. Keith collided with one of the backmarkers and then he and Ryan also had a coming together but in the dash to the line, Ryan got the verdict by 0.153s. Talking later, a delighted Ryan said, “It’s been a really enjoyable day’s racing and, after the problems with the rain on Friday, it was great to get the racing all run in decent, dry conditions whilst it was also really good to battling it out with Keith once more. In the first Superbike race, I got a good start and opened up a bit of a gap so from then on I was able to ride to my boards and control the gap. The Supersport was a lot tougher and although I led from the first lap again I just couldn’t shake Keith off and he was right on my rear wheel throughout. I knew he was going to come by at some stage and he left it until the final lap, slipstreaming by me, to leave me in a close second.” “The 450cc and Super Twins races were fairly comfortable so that just left the Grand Final where I knew it would be between my and Keith once more. He led from the off this time but on the last corner of the last lap we encountered some backmarkers and it all got a bit messy. It was no-ones fault and just one of things but I was able to get the power down first and pip him to the line to complete another good day. I’m really happy with my riding at the moment and it sets me up nicely for this week’s Ulster GP. It’s not going be easy though, especially as I won’t have the use of a Superbike unfortunately, but I’ll be giving it my all and just see where we end up on the day.” Ryan now heads to the Dundrod circuit for the Ulster GP Bikeweek with the Dundrod 150 races taking place on Thursday 12th and the Ulster GP races taking place on Saturday 14th August. More, from a press release issued by James Westmoreland Racing: Brands Hatch After the disappointment of Snetterton I knew what was needed from myself to put the CAME Yamaha back on top at Brands. Free practice went well, I was fastest in FP1, 2nd in FP2, and the 3rd session was wet and we had a steady run round trying to improve the bike in the wet conditions. Q1 was dry and it was a intense 30 minutes. Straight away I felt comfortable and and gradually reduced my times. On my last tyre I managed a really good run of 28.0, 27.9 and 28.0 which was good enough for pole. It was a difficult session as Sam Lowes pushed me all the way but I held on and claimed my 3rd consecutive pole. It was nice breaking into the 27 barrier to become the quickest supersport rider around Brands Hatch. During warm up we tried a few changes that worked, and I was very comfortable and looking forward to the race. I was quickest. My start in the race was good, but I got passed into Paddock hill and settled into 3rd place. I was happy sat there and could keep a watch on the race unfolding. During the first three laps I was maybe too cautious after Snetterton, and I ended up been pushed back to 6th which wasn’t quite in the plan. I didn’t panic as no one was making a break. On lap 4 I decided to start making my way to the front, and pulled off some good strong passes. By lap 6 I was already second when the pace car came out for two laps. When the car came in I made sure everything was back up to temperature before pushing on lap 12 for the lead. I passed Sam Lowes into Turn one, before I ran wide and me past back, then I finally made it stick down the back straight on the same lap. I knew by the lap times we were running that I had quite a bit in the tank. Once with clear track I put my head down and reeled off the remaining laps, pulling a 1.6 second gap and setting the fastest lap of the race on lap 15 of 16. It was a perfect race. The bike was awesome at the end of the race, the rear tyre was perfect and I have to say a massive thank you for my team for giving me such a good bike. It was a nice feeling winning. We have had the speed all season but for one reason or another it hasn’t happened . After Snetterton my approach changed. We don’t need anything less than wins if were going to win this championship. I am now super ready for Cadwell, my home round and look to claw some of the 30 points back there. The bike was great there at the start of the season, we had a small issue in the race there and still finished 2nd. I must thank the whole CAME Yamaha team for all of there efforts, the package was really good and they deserved that victory. A big thank you to all my sponsors and I know look forward to the last 1/3rd of the season. More, from a press release issued by Tom Tunstall Racing: Tunstall Turns It Around Doodson Motorsport Racer Tom Tunstall ended his latest race weekend on a high, overcoming bike issues to end the weekend with a storming ride back into the points. Brands Hatch in Kent hosted the British Superbike Championships for a second time in 2010 with the latest round taking place last weekend on the renowned 2.3mile “GP Circuit”. Following the free practice and qualifying sessions it was clear all wasn’t as planned for the Yorkshire based team with Tunstall back in 23rd position on the grid. Tunstall explained: “We’ve been suffering from Chatter [High Speed Vibration] coming from the rear tyre. It starts after a couple of laps then just gets worse. As soon as I turn into any of the faster corners the back end of the bike starts coming around and I have to shut off loosing time and it means I can’t ride the bike like I want to. “Initially we thought it was just a one-off issue and because it rained in the practice before qualifying we didn’t think about it again. In qualifying there was nothing I could do with it, I tried to modify my riding style around it but we just need to cure it.” The first of the weekend’s three races was held on Saturday afternoon and after eight laps rain brought out the red flag and the race was restarted on a drenched track. Without time to change the bike’s setting to suit the wet conditions Tunstall was forced to start the race with a modified dry set-up which he’d never tried before and to make matters worse he had to start from the back of the grid having missed the pit lane opening. After coming home in 23rd Tunstall remarked: “As there wasn’t time to change to our normal wet setting the race turned into a test session for us I didn’t know how it’d work until I tipped into turn one! As the race went on my confidence built with it but the front was still a bit hard and in a race you can’t come in and change it.” The weather was kinder on Sunday with broken sunshine throughout. Race two again saw Tunstall afflicted with the “Chatter” issues and it was clear that the Yorkshireman was far from happy ending the race in 20th. “It’s like racing with one arm tied behind your back, very frustrating. I’m hardly racing out there just surviving to keep the bike on the track”. With the Chatter problem traced to the tyre spinning on the rear wheel rim the team did all they could to eradicate the issue. The work paid off with a revitalised Tunstall lapping at his fastest ever pace around the Kent circuit, almost a second a lap faster than the previous races. Charging through from 25th on the grid with a top-12 pace finishing 15th at the flag, taking home more championship points and narrowly missing a seasons best 14th by only half a second. “It was like racing on a different race track without the chatter and was a relief to finally get my bike back. “I really enjoyed the race; I’m over the moon that we turn the weekend around and added points to the board” The next round of the British Superbike Championships is the popular Cadwell Park bank holiday race, known as “Party in the Park” over the weekend of 28th -30th of August. More, from a press release issued by Keith Amor’s publicist: Success for Amor at Armoy! Keith Amor was back on the winner’s podium at the weekend with the KBMG Racing rider putting in a trio of fine rides at Saturday’s Armoy Road Races. Having his first outing since Kells in mid-July, the Scotsman took the top step of the rostrum with his now, almost customary, Supersport 600cc victory and he backed this up with a brace of runner-up spots in the two Superbike races. It was Keith’s first appearance at the 3-mile road circuit and his task of learning the course wasn’t helped with most of Friday’s practice sessions wiped out by rain but, despite only getting in a handful of ‘untimed’ laps on Saturday morning, he was soon up to speed and running at the head of the field. First up was the Open race and although he was unable to quite match the pace of regular sparring partner Ryan Farquhar, he finished the 6-lap race only 2 seconds adrift on his S1000RR BMW. The Supersport 600cc race was next up for Keith and he allowed Farquhar to set the pace, sitting right in the slipstream of his rival throughout. Really happy once more with the performance of the Kojak Racing Honda, Keith waited until the last lap before making his move and overtook Ryan to take over at the front for the first time – he duly held on to the win, taking the chequered flag just under two tenths of a second. The final race of the day was the ‘Race of Legends’ Grand Final and Keith hit the front immediately on the BMW with Farquhar again right with him. Keith held on to the lead for almost the entire race and looked like he’d take his second win of the day but coming in to the final corner of the final lap the duo encountered backmarkers. All of the riders collided and in the ensuing melee, Farquhar was able to get on the power first and Keith had to settle for second albeit just 0.153s behind. Talking about his day, a pleased Keith said; “Aye, it’s been a pretty good day and I’ve enjoyed myself. It didn’t get off to the greatest start what with the weather being how it was and 5 laps of untimed practice behind a marshal wasn’t the ideal preparation but I soon got to grips with the circuit. It was a bit bumpy in places and quite technical and the organisers ran a good meeting so I’m glad I came here. We were using it mainly as a shakedown for the Ulster GP and the little 600 was flying again and I couldn’t be happier with how it’s performing. We’ve also made quite a few changes to the BMW since I was last on it at Kells and it’s handling a lot better now. I was a bit disappointed not to have won the Grand Final and wasn’t sure who hit me but it was just one of those things. The team did a great job again, the Dunlop tyres were mega and it’s been a very worthwhile work-out so big thanks to everyone involved. Like I say, I’m really happy with the bikes and the results here at Armoy should stand us in good stead for the Ulster this week.” Keith now heads straight to the Dundrod circuit near Belfast for this week’s Dundrod 150 and Ulster GP races which take place on Thursday and Saturday respectively.