World Champions forced out of 2010 TT
World Sidecar Champions Ben and Tom Birchall have been forced to pull out of the 2010 Isle of Man TT with fewer than 60 days left before the first practice session.
After a stunning TT debut in 2009, which saw them heading for a sixth place until they retired on the final lap of the opening race, the brothers were hoping for a strong 2010.
However, late delivery of their F2 outfit has forced the Birchalls out of the TT.
Driver Ben explained:
“We are really pleased with the new Louis Christian chassis, the handling is incredible and the new design and the updates made this year make it a really special machine to ride.”
“The only disappointment for us this year is that, due to the late delivery of the F2 outfit, we have no option but to put our Isle of Man TT plans on hold this year. It is very important that the machine is 100% prepared and tested prior to racing, even more so with the TT only a few weeks away, and if we were to go ahead on an unproven machine then it would compromise both safety and performance.”
“We would like to thank the Isle of Man Department of Tourism for their understanding and continued support, plus the many people who have given us their support in the venture.”
“Our aim is to go back to the Isle of Man next year with a bike that is capable of winning races and to do this will take a lot of preparation and time – a commodity that is simply not now available to us this year.”
The pair still intend to defend their World title and contest the Battle of Britain championship.
Ben added:
“We would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to our sponsors, family, friends and fans for their continued support of the team over the closed season and we look forward to bringing home some good results for them in 2010.”
Despite the Birchalls being unable to race at the 2010 TT, the battle for sidecar honours is still expected to be fierce with TT legend Dave Molyneux facing strong competition as he bids to add to his tally of 14 TT wins.
Manxman Moly has switched to Kawasaki power for 2010, but still starts as favourite to take victory during the two sidecar races. However, the Suzuki-powered outfit of John Holden and Andrew Winkle will be chasing all the way, as will Simon Neary and Paul Knapton in the Honda-powered outfit run by five-times TT winner Nick Crowe.
There’s World Championship class also in the fight, with three-times World champion Tim Reeves returning for another crack at the Mountain course – with Dan Sayle as passenger – and fellow former World Champion Klaus Klaffenbock back for more, once again partnered by Christian Parzer.
There are many familiar names in the sidecar line-up, including Conrad Harrison/Kerry Williams, Roy Hanks/Dave Wells, Steve Coombes/Jamie Winn and Gary Bryan/Mark Sayers, plus, Tony Elmer is returning to the TT and World Championship runners Gary and Dan Knight will make their debut in 2010.