British Superbikes, Oulton Park: Bridewell takes WSBK inspiration to regain title lead

Tommy Bridwell turned his weekend around on the second day of race action at Oulton Park, with more points on offer in the Showdown and the weather playing it’s part.

Saturday had been a hard one for the Honda UK rider - losing his championship lead to nearest rival Kyle Ryde after a DNF:

“Tough weekend for sure, well it wasn’t a tough weekend, it was just, if I’m honest, we as a team, we’re obviously always pushing and thriving to develop the bike and leave no stone unturned, We had some new parts, that, in truth, we need to spend a bit more time on - it was very positive on the Friday, but we just didn’t have the time to get it right. So we sort of lost that day and then , obviously we had to revert back for the Saturday.

Immediately I felt really strong on the bike Saturday morning and then straight into qualifying, front row, felt great”.

• 2024 British Superbikes: Oulton Park (Showdown) - Race Results (3)
• 2024 British Superbikes: Oulton Park (Showdown) - Race Results (2)

All was well, until a very early lap one crash saw the #1 bike unexpectedly out of action:

“Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to do any sort of full fuel load simulations or anything so probably a little bit of naivety, weirdly, or stupidity is probably the better word - that going into the race yesterday I felt, you know, I knew I could get a good start, be patient and let the race come to me. It’s a really, really peculiar crash yesterday, which was frustrating because, honestly, still not 100% sure the answer, I know why I crashed, it’s just very peculiar I did crash”.

Sunday brought more weather challenges, and although race two was better for Bridewell, finishing the sprint fourth, with Ryde down in 13th, it wasn’t without it’s own challenges, with the reigning champion suffering visor issues:

“I knew the bike was strong, I knew today the weather was going to be intermittent, so the wet race this morning was good until, in truth, my visor wouldn’t disperse the water, so I couldn’t really see, so when I got in behind Leon every time I could, lets say, catch him, I couldn’t physically. Couldn’t see five foot in front of me, so I know I was sort of in trouble - especially when the rest come past me, so it was a bit of a salvage job”.

Race three saw improvements again with a return to the podium in the red flagged race. Bridewell credited the last Superbike round in France, which he watched with interest as he is due to make a guest ride in the championship at Cremona, with giving him the confidence to push on his tyre choice:

“In that race, if I’m honest, I was really, really, really happy with my riding on the intermediate front, slick rear because, in truth, it’s never been my forte of conditions.

Then I watched Magny-Cours last weekend and I saw Garrett Gerloff and it was wet on inters and I was like ‘bloody hell, they obviously do work quite well!’ I took confidence from that and it’s the best I’ve ridden with an inter front, slick rear”.

Bridewell heads to the next Showdown round back in the championship lead with 334 points, now holding a six point advantage over Ryde.