In Saturday's first practice, aboard their Mitchell’s of Mansfield sponsored LCR Suzuki, the brothers finished up less than a second behind the leaders Päivärinta and Karttiala and ahead of the current world champions.

They didn't fare quite as well during qualifying, possibly because of carrying 10 kilos of success ballast, having won their previous race at Rijeka.

Qualifying was a close affair and afterwards Ben said, “We finished up in third place, with less than a second separating the top four teams.

Unfortunately Ben and Tom didn’t get off the start-line very quickly and it took a while to get used to the change in handling due to the extra weight-penalty being carried. The brothers had to fight their way through traffic, whilst ensuring they brought their outfit home safely and had almost caught Dellanoy and Cluze when they had run out of laps.

They posted their quickest time in their last lap and eventually crossed the finish-line in fourth place, collecting 13 World Championship points.

Birchall Racing completed their 2008 season with a very creditable third place and with an 18-point lead over the French team of Dellanoy and Cluze. Although Reeves and Farrance won the race, they lost the championship by two points to the Finnish team of Pekka Päivärinta and Timo Karttiala.

After the podium presentation, Ben said, “Tom and I are very pleased to win the bronze medal in only our third year of competing in the World Championship and we would like to thank all our sponsors, friends and family for their continued support throughout the season.”

Ben and Tom will take part in the annual Festival of Sidecars at Mallory Park on 5th October. Their final outing will be to Bishopscourt, Co Down, on 18th-19th October in the Sunflower Trophy.