Mansfield sidecar aces Ben & Tom Birchall again make history at TT races

The duo came home nine seconds ahead of Pete Founds/Jevan Walmsley, who also broke the 120mph barrier, with the Manx pairing of Ryan and Callum Crowe in third.

It was the Birchalls 11th win in a row and 14th in total, the latter figure drawing them level with the great Mike Hailwood.

With overcast skies all around the Mountain Course, the Birchalls led through Glen Helen first time around, their advantage over Founds/Walmsley 2.8 seconds.

Over Ballaugh Bridge and the Birchalls had added a further four tenths of a second to their lead and by Ramsey Hairpin and the opening lap of 118.904mph gave them a 4.5s lead over Founds/Walmsley with the Crowes comfortable in third but some 15s adrift of second place.

The Birchalls upped the tempo at the beginning of lap two and their lead had gone out to 8.1 seconds at Glen Helen and as the lap progressed, they were on course to better their four-day old lap record and sure enough, they did exactly that as they went 2.8s quicker with a speed of 120.645mph. That saw them extend their lead over Founds/Walmsley to 11.6 seconds and the Crowes continued to circulate in third.

On the final lap, Founds/Walmsley were continuing to keep the Birchalls honest, the lead hovering around the 13 second mark, and whilst the brothers came home for their second win of the week, the eventual winning margin was 9.1 seconds as Founds/Walmsley joined the 120mph club at 120.079mph.

The previous week they had become the first ever crew to lap the 37.73-mile Mountain Course at more than 120mph.

The pair were World Championship-winning competitors in both F1 category (2009 and 2018 seasons) and F2 category (2016, officially known as F2 Sidecar World Trophy, using 600 engines running concurrently with 1000-engined outfits) and again in 2017 – when all used 600 engines). Ben started racing as a passenger in 1999, and became a driver in 2003. Tom started racing as a passenger in 2003.