Ben & Tom Birchall - Winning Together
In Episode Seven of The TT Podcast, it’s a double helping as the record holding, ten time TT winning, dominant force that is the Birchall Brothers join hosts Chris Pritchard and Steve Plater.
The Isle of Man TT Races has always had a place in the hearts of this dynamic duo, with fond childhood memories, the siblings reminisce on their first family holidays at the TT during the 80's and 90's, remembering seeing their heroes around the paddocks, playing around the campsite at Barregarrow and waving at Dave Jefferies putting it on the back wheel.
The record-breaking duo talk about the beginnings of their career with the deal that Tom made with his boss to begin his career as a sidecar driver and the wait for Ben to age up into his role as passenger whilst he gave notes to his brother’s first partner. They also explain why they spent their first year at the TT trying to avoid their dad waving at them from the middle of the road.
The Birchalls also give a unique insight into what it’s like being in a sidecar outfit racing round the mountain course, how a lower point of view affects your ability to see what’s ahead, the integral role that the passenger plays and the marginal changes you can make to get ahead of the pack.
Despite their huge success, the brothers’ TT career isn’t without its crashes, and in this episode they get into the before, during and after of their biggest, including the push they made to get back onto the start line only days after their incident at Brandywell in 2012.
As we near the first TT back since 2019, the boys talk about why their main focus is on the road racing event this year and what they’ve managed to do during the extra two years to prepare, including taking the time to finally work on a new and ‘quite different’ outfit that they’ll be bringing round the course in May.
Finally, whilst the guys managed to avoid Steve’s quick fire questions, they still have to take on some Mr and Mr style questions including Ben’s worst habit and what Tom can’t live without.
You can listen to the whole episode with Ben and Tom now wherever you get your podcasts.
Also, remember to subscribe to the TT Podcast so you can catch all future episodes as soon as they land including next week’s where Chris and Steve will speak to one of the TT’s most anticipated newcomer’s in recent years, Glenn Irwin.
