British Superbikes, Knockhill: Tommy Bridewell- “we’re not trying to win every single race”

Tommy Bridewell has continued his quick adaptation to the Honda riding for the UK factory team for 2024 in BSB.

The reigning champion took a win from pole in race one and has been strong no matter what the Knockhill weather threw at him, resulting in a further two podium finishes on Sunday. Second in race three saw him extend his championship lead, gained after race two, matching the Honda record of six consecutive podium finishes on the bounce, set by Alex Lowes.

• 2024 British Superbikes: Knockhill - Race Results (2)
• 2024 British Superbikes: Knockhill - Race Results (3)

Talking about race three, the #1 rider admitted that the conditions had been tricky, but when he saw everyone else having the same issues he found it easier to settle into the race:

“The pace earlier when I was really wet was unbelievably fast, then, to be honest, in that race I had a couple of moments early and I thought to myself ‘oh bloody hell, is the tyre pressure right’ or whatever but everything was perfect but it put my mind at ease a little bit because I saw straight away Rory had a little bit of a moment and then I could see Christian having a few slides, so I think it was just track conditions.

A tough race, really tough - I knew the track was going to dry and I knew it was going to become harder so quite early on at the start/finish I was trying to stay way over to the left to keep my tyre cooler really, but Christian set a phenomenal pace at the front - I was just conscious of trying to stay with him”.

Race winner Christian Iddon held a pretty constant gap back to Bridewell once he reached second, with the Fireblade on the limit to keep in touch:

“It was pretty much everything I had to try and stay with him, I was losing the front into the last hairpin. I couldn’t match him through the first sector but I could just maintain the gap.

I saw plus one and a half seconds and I saw Danny was behind me with eight laps to go, I though to myself ‘let’s see if there’s anything left’ but I was just having too many moments to be honest”.

It is his consistency this season which has allowed Bridewell to move into the title lead, something he has been working towards with his Honda team:

“For the championship, for me, this is the crucial time of the season - I’ve always approached seasons slightly different - I’ve learned every year and the string of podiums, for me, is testament to Honda, testament to our approach this season - we’re not trying to win every single race - yes, we want to win every race, of course we do, but we’re just trying to keep our feet on the ground, just keep building points”.

The championship now moves to Snetterton, where last season Bridewell took all three race wins.