Following on from their success at the Isle of Man TT races where they won both Sidecar events earlier in the month, Ben and Tom Birchall scored a double victory at Castle Combe in Wiltshire over the weekend.

The Mitchell's of Mansfield supported brothers were invited to ride as guests of Avon Tyres and Castle Combe circuit to compete in the third round of the ACU/FSRA British F2 Championship which gave race fans the opportunity to see the brothers in action on the double TT winning machine that’s is supported by Klaus Klaffenbock.

As the first of two races got underway on Saturday the action was close on the opening few laps with Ben and Tom leading the field around the 1.85-mile circuit. They pulled clear to extend their lead to 2.2 seconds at the half way stage of the 10 lap affair and were well in command. At the flag they recorded the win with a four second advantage over John Holden/Dan Sayle and Alan Founds/Tom Peters.

Race two on Sunday was an exciting and close affair with the Birchall Brothers sandwiched between Founds/Hawes and Founds/Peters as they raced towards the first corner. The three outfits were travelling in very close company with Ben and Tom in third place at the end of the first lap.

On lap two the leading three outfits were joined by Bell/Bell and as they approached the Bybrook chicane they were running side by side with no one wanting to give way. They managed to negotiate the chicane safely but the straw bales were scuttled in the process leaving the marshals to hurriedly replace them before the next onslaught.

The race continued with the four outfits running nose to tail and on lap seven of 12 it was Founds/Hawes, Ben and Tom plus Bell/Bell running side by side over the line to start lap eight.

With just 0.6 seconds covering the three leading machines it was anyone's race but Ben and Tom managed to get the lead on lap 10 which they held to the chequered flag to take their second win of the weekend just 0.6s ahead of Founds/Hawes.

Ben commented: "That was a cracking race; we really enjoyed ourselves out there. We were delighted to take the double victory in such a high profile championship and we enjoyed the really close and competitive but safe racing with the regular riders in the championship. We extend our thanks to Avon Tyres and Castle Combe Circuit and also the FSRA for inviting us to attend the meeting this weekend. Castle Combe is a lovely little circuit and we enjoyed racing here. We are now looking forward to our visit to the Isle of Man next week for the Southern 100 races."

The Southern 100 road races in which Ben and Tom are previous winners take place on the 4.25-mile Billowen circuit to the south of the island from Monday July 6 to Thursday July 9.

Pic credit Craig Harriman