Tommy Bridewell blasts “out of touch” pundits: “I was told I was mad”

Tommy Bridewell has called out “out of touch” pundits after finishing second in the 2024 British Superbike Championship.

Bridewell won the title in 2023 with Ducati, but switched to Honda for 2024, a manufacturer which last won the BSB title in 2013, and hadn’t won a race since 2022.

“[It’s been] a year that everyone told me we were going to get absolutely smoked,” Bridewell told BritishSuperbike.com following last weekend’s Brands Hatch BSB finale.

Bridewell said he was told that, “I was mad leaving Ducati, I’d only joined Honda for the money. I’ve seen every comment, every pundit, every expert and ex-racers that told me ‘You’re absolutely crazy’.

“Maybe they’re a bit out of touch with their pundit skills.

“Honestly, I’m proud, I’m super-proud. Everyone wrote me off before I even rode the bike.”

Bridewell explained that assurances made to him last year by Honda UK had given him the confidence that it was a team worth joining for the defence of his 2023 title.

“The conversation I had with Harv [Havier Beltran] and Honda UK, they filled me with confidence that I believed in the project.

“I’d spent five years with Ducati, so for me to jump on an inline-four, a new Honda, a new team, and take the championship down to the wire like it did today— of course I’m disappointed, I’m a racer, why would I not be?

“In some aspects, what have I got to be disappointed with? [...] I think, for my first year with Honda, I think we’ve got so much to be proud of, because, ultimately, we were defeated by one point.”

While 2024 ultimately resulted in Bridewell losing his British crown to Kyle Ryde, the 2023 champion believes there was nothing more he could have done this year to improve his position.

“There was nothing more I could give, and I’m proud of that, because what could I have done differently this year to have given me one more point?

“As a racer, you look at ‘What if I didn’t crash at Oulton, or if the bike didn’t break down there,’ and so on.

“But that’s life. I knew that, I knew the process.

“What I’m really proud about, is I knew [...] that my job started in Race 1 in Navarra.

“On a new bike for me, consistency was key, and for me to be able to adapt and understand that from the offset, I’m proud.

“Like I say, everyone had written me off, so to lose the championship by one point, I hold my head high.”