Third for Tommy Bridewell reduces gap to a point, “sets up tomorrow real nice”

Tommy Bridewell made his way to the front at Brands Hatch in the first race of the last round of the Showdown, and although the current number one rider could not bridge the gap to the leading duo, his rise from sixth on the grid to third as Glenn Irwin crashed out and Kyle Ryde struggled in unfavoured conditions was still a huge gain as the championship nears its conclusion.

• 2024 British Superbikes: Brands Hatch (Showdown Finale) - Race Results (1)
• 2024 British Superbikes: Brands Hatch (Showdown Finale) - Qualifying Results

The Honda Racing UK rider had the same tough decision to make as his title rivals, push for position to gain points but risk a fall, or take it carefully. Bridewell made moves early which left him in an almost risk-free lonely third for much of the race, bar a brief sniff of the leaders when they hit backmarkers to lap, brining him into contention. Bridewell explained:

“it was hard because any race in the wet over twenty laps is always hard. In the wet conditions it’s not the physical side It’s the keeping your focus - you don’t ever get any margin to make a mistake - if you clip a white line, if you break a bit too hard, if you run wide or whatever - there’s no margin for mistake.

A getaway was planned by the defending champion, but Kent and Vickers and they way their Yamahas worked in the wet left it an impossible task:

“I knew I needed to get away, we got a new swing arm this weekend and it was mega. Guesses - it is a calculated guess set-up from the team, if you like, for the bike - but the bike was working great and I just knew I needed to get away with the front guys.

Ryan’s great in the wet and so is Dan and I thought, you know what, if I can hang on to them hopefully they’ll pull me along, you know - and whoever else comes has got good pace, and if they can’t, they can’t”.

Bridewell was reassured seeing his gap back - until late in the race he had swung into the overall lead, with late moves from Ryde on both Max Cook and Peter Hickman needed to switch the advantage back to the Yamaha rider:

“It was nice to see on my pitboard - I had like an eight and a half second gap, just the last five laps when the track started drying out it just started to spin up a little bit. And no discredit to these guys, they were riding phenomenal but it’s just where the Yam has a little bit more - docile - that it just kind of chugs along a little bit if you like.”

The championship was always going to Sunday, but the race one result sees the 2024 title likely to go all they way to the wire, with Bridewell ready to go all the way to the finish, adding he was excited for the final day of action:

“I’m happy, honestly, them conditions are so easy to make a mistake, we didn’t make a mistake, we went in four points behind, we’ve come out of it one point behind, so a three point advantage, a three point gain is better than no point and it sets up tomorrow real nice because, to be honest, in the dry I feel like the bike’s working really well, I feel great on the bike… I’m excited which is strange when there’s so much at stake, but I’m excited to get it underway and may the best man win.”