Birchall all set for 2025 TT campaign

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From Phil Wain

Sixteen years after his debut, 14-time winner Ben Birchall is eagerly looking forward to his latest Isle of Man TT Races campaign, which gets underway next week, with the Mansfield driver gunning for further success with new passenger Patrick Rosney.



 



The duo recently concluded their preparations with their Hager/Wyckham Blackwell LCR Honda for the world-famous event, which takes place on the 37 and ¾-mile Mountain Course, with Birchall hopeful of his 15th TT win and first without younger brother Tom.

 



With Tom having retired at the end of the 2023 season, the year when they set the current TT lap record of 120.645mph, Ben recruited Kevin Rousseau for last year’s event, the duo taking an excellent second place in race two – Ben’s 17th podium – after a 119mph+ lap. The result was even more impressive given Rousseau had never completed a flying lap prior to the meeting getting underway.

 



However, with the Frenchman’s World Championship commitments limiting his availability during the season, Birchall enlisted the services of the experienced Rosney for 2025, the Blackburn passenger having finished fourth and fifth twelve months ago with former driver Lewis Blackstock.

 



The pairing, who finished in fourth place in the opening round of the British Sidecar Championship on the new-for-2025 Ryde Honda, successfully completed several meetings last month on their F2 machine to conclude their preparations for the TT with Birchall as keen as ever to taste the winner’s champagne.

 



Ben Birchall: “With Paddy on board for the first time this year, it’s been good to get some decent mileage in testing under our belts and with further development with the bike, preparations couldn’t have gone any better. Honda and Chris Mehew have been a great help with the new engines and I’m feeling a lot more comfortable with the bike and its performance.”

 



“Paddy’s experience has helped tremendously and I’ve a much better feeling with the bike and in general, probably for the first time since Tom retired. There’s been a lot to take on board since then but Paddy’s a great passenger and I’m looking forward to bringing his speed on at the TT. It’s our main focus for the year and we both feel confident of achieving strong lap times and strong results.”

 



Practice around the Mountain Course is scheduled to get underway on Monday 26th May with the first three-lap race taking place the following Saturday.

 


Action photos from round one of the British Sidecar Championship at Donington Park (Tim Keeton – Impact Images Photography