Birchall brothers set the pace

After 2 qualifying sessions today in brilliant sunshine, and the same weather for tomorrow it is going to be the final race of the year which will decide the World Championship and what a race it will be. The top four in the championship will start from the top four on the grid. Starting from pole position with a time of 1:42.766 will be the Birchall Brothers Ben and Tom on their Mitchells of Mansfield, LCR, Yamaha, the Brothers set this time in the first qualifying session, but the second session was good for getting their machine ready for tomorrows race, “we are very happy today and bring on the race tomorrow, we are looking forward to it” said Ben. Next to Ben and Tom is Tim Reeves and Ashley Hawes on the “Relocator” LCR, Suzuki, in the first session the team were getting their machine set up and bedding in a refurbished engine, this would explain the time of 1:44.300, Tim said “we were not too far of the time in the morning, but I knew we could go faster in the second session as long as I took care when setting the bike up, we had used tyres in the second session and with a time of 1:42.925, Ashley and myself are really happy with the bike and really looking forward to the race, it’s all or nothing” Third on the grid will be Jorg Steinhausen and Gregory Cluze on their Steinhausen Racing LCR, BMW with a time of 1:43.032, Jorg is happy with the set up and the bike is good, but he said “I feel we are a little down on power but we will see what happens tomorrow” and for Gregory to be racing at his home GP, and at Le Mans, he said “ this is great and it means a lot to me, to be fighting for the Championship and starting from the front row is good for us, the team have worked hard all year for this, I am looking forward to the race tomorrow. Second row of the grid will be headed by Pekka Paivarinta and Adolf Hanni, on their Team Suzuki Finland LCR, Suzuki, “we changed the gearing on the bike and it seemed to be better, but I am finding it hard to get a good driving position on some corners” said Pekka, and no problems for Adolf, he is happy and looking forward to the race tomorrow, they set a time of 1:43.238. Along side them in fifth place on the grid is Kurt Hock and Enrico Becker on their Hock Racing LCR, Suzuki, Kurt said “we used old tyres for both qualifying sessions and did okay, I had a plan for the second session but it did not work, we set off in the lead for the session thinking I could get a clear track for a good time but when we came round to start the first flying lap some teams were still leaving pit lane so we did not have a clear track. But we are still happy with what we do today. Another team happy with today are Sebastien Delannoy and Olivier Lavorel on their Team Sand Seb 72 LCR, Suzuki they will start sixth on the grid with a time of 1:44.207, alongside them is Delta Racing’s Michael Grabmuller and Ueli Wafler on their LCR, Kawasaki, “another good day for the team, and we look forward to tomorrows race” said Michael. Beside them is Jonathan Huet and Sebastien Arifon on their Team Euroside LCR, Suzuki with a time of 1:46.686. Heading the fourth row is Bennie Streuer and Freek Dirksen on their Streuer Racing LCR, Suzuki on a time of 1:46.991, “this is good for us, we are faster than anytime before here” said Bennie. Starting beside them is Philippe Le Bail and Christian Chaigneau, Team Auto Moto Terca, LCR, BMW with a time of 1:47.141. Tomorrow’s race will be 18 laps and start at 11.30 so it will not be so hot for the teams, this might be good for them. All the 22 teams are looking forward to the last race in the FIM Sidecar World Championship.