Birchall Brothers start from pole

With temperatures in the high twenties and a good crowed basking in the sun it was Ben and Tom Birchall who will start from pole position for the two races this weekend in Oschersleben. Brothers Ben and Tom have been the fastest in the two qualifying sessions on their “Mitchells of Mansfield” LCR, Suzuki; they had a trouble free day and were really happy with how things have gone. Although they did not better the first qualifying time of 1:31.778 which took pole position, they were still happy, and in the second qualifier they made two stops to make small adjustments to suspension in pit lane. After the session Ben said “we are trying small adjustments, the bike is great to drive, but we can make it better, both Tom and I are really happy and we think it will be really good racing tomorrow” Next to the Birchalls will be Pekka Paivarinta and Adolf Hanni on the “Team Suzuki Finland” LCR Suzuki, with a time of 1:31.846, again a trouble free day for them and Pekka is really happy with the bike, saying “we felt that we have been down on power the last two meetings, so we have refreshed the engine and it seems to be better now, but I think it is going to be a hard race as Ben and Tom are really fast, but I am looking forward to the race and see what we can do”. Starting from the inside of the first row will be Jorg Steinhausen and Ashley Hawes on their “Steinhausen Racing” LCR, BMW with a time of 1:32.033. Jorg and Ashley were really happy with the day, “It is great to back on the pace again, and the bike is good” said Jorg. Ashley was happy too saying “It’s been a good day for us no problems, I think it will be a hard race if the temperatures stay like today, but I am looking forward to the race”. Starting the second row and in fourth place will be Michael Grabmuller and Manfred Wechselberger on the “Polizeisportverein Wels Motorsport” LCR, Kawasaki. They have sorted the mechanical problems they had before and the bike is going well. However the first qualifying session did not go so well, as they ran off track at the first corner into the gravel trap, they managed to get going again but straight into the pits they came. Michael said “we did not have any brakes!! All was okay and then nothing, but we will sort this problem and get going again” They set a time of 1:33.509 in the second qualifying session for their fourth place spot. Lining up beside them will be Scott Lawrie and James Neave in fifth place with a time of 1:33.799 on their “Team SLR” LCR, Suzuki. Things went well for Scott and James, the only problem was a part of the fairing came loose and started to scrape on the track, they came into pit lane and made some quick repairs, this was in the second session. Both Scott and James are looking forward to the race tomorrow. Starting in sixth place and heading the third row is Petri Makkula and Timo Karttiala on their “Team Makkula” LCR, BMW with a time of 1:34. 060 all went well for the team but complain about lack of power, and will see if they can improve for the race. With a time of 1:34.084 is Kurt Hock and Enrico Becker on their “Hock Racing” LCR, Suzuki they will start from the middle of the third row in seventh place. They had an electrical problem in the first session but managed to find and rectify this problem before the second session, when they set this time. Lining up in eighth spot is Andre Kretzer and Jens Lehnertz on their “AKW-Kretzer” LCR, Suzuki with a time of 1:34.312 a trouble free day for them too. Ninth place will be Johan Reuterholt and Peter Wall on their “Reuterholt Motorsport” ART, Suzuki with a time of 1:34.726. They are really happy with the way thing have gone as this is the first race they have done this year, and they have had to sort some small problems with their machine. Sitting tenth on the grid is Bennie Streuer and Geert Koerts on the “Team Streuer” LCR, Suzuki with a time of 1:35.175. They are both happy, and their machine is running well, and both looking forward to the race tomorrow. Tomorrow there will be a ten lap sprint race starting at 11.40 local time. It will be a hard fought race from the lights going out to the chequered flag.