until Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League
Dominant sidecar duo Tom and Ben Birchall have doubled up on their already-successful 2023 Isle of Man TT campaign to take their second victory of the week, smashing their existing lap record from Saturday en route to a remarkable 11th consecutive TT win and their 14th overall.
Peter Founds and Jevan Walmsley were again the only rivals able to keep them honest.
The Birchalls, who started the time trial event first on the road, once again managed to lead start to finish, but unlike Saturday’s opening race Founds and Walmsley were able to stay in touch with them throughout the three laps, even pulling back the gap a little bit on the final lap as they became only the second sidecar outfit in TT history to exceed the 120mph average lap speed.
However, the Birchalls were able to deliver their own decisive blow on the second lap, by taking the lap record higher again from their race one time, lapping the 37.73-mile circuit in only 18m45.850s (a 120.645mph average) to round off a perfect end to their event.
“What a great day, what a fantastic TT, and thanks to everyone for coming and being a part of it,” said driver Ben after the race.
“What a week for sidecars. In some ways, that race was a lot more difficult, because we knew that Pete was on a bloody charge, he was on good form.
“The track was in better condition, it was a bit grippier, and it was lined with people.
“I’ve said it before, but fans make it here. If you were riding around with nobody watching, it would be crap, but the people make it.
“Two wins, the first ever 120mph lap… what more can you say about this week?”
There’s still plenty of racing left at the new longer-format TT event, with the second supersport race set to get underway on Wednesday afternoon before superstock and supertwin action on Friday and the Senior TT closing the event on Saturday.
