NETS MUGELLO PODIUM

Following on from the disappointment of Brands Hatch last weekend, when he was sidelined from the final round of the British Supersport Championship with machine failure, Wiltshire road racer Tommy Bridewell bounced back with a battling fifth place in the final round of the Italian Superbike Championship at Mugello today.

Having missed the opening couple of races due to sustaining a broken leg in the opening round, the 20-year-old from Etchilhampton near Devizes continued his good end of season form to battle with the leading Italian riders and after qualifying tenth on the Naturally Best Suzuki, Bridewell made a good start in the race.

After making his way up to fifth on the opening laps, Bridewell made his move with three laps to go as he challenged Ricardo Chiarello and Marco Borciani for the final podium place behind runaway leader Luca Scassa and after a fairing bashing moment with Claudio Corti, he ended up running wide on the final corner and had to settle for fifth at the chequered flag.

As a result of his strong performances in the final two rounds, Tommy netted runner-up spot in the International Cup series which runs within the main championship.

"I thought I rode a hard but fair race today and I'm pleased with my performance but I wanted that podium so bad. I wasn't running any traction control unlike the others so I just dug deep and got my head down. To end up nearly gaining a podium in this sort of company is good and had it not been for that mistake on the final lap, I could have rounded the season off in style. Instead, I'll aim to do that in Portugal where I'm really looking forward to riding in the World Superbike Championship as a wild card. I'm happy to be finishing the season strongly and we're now considering our options for next year" said Tommy.