At Mallory
After an impressive run of form since returning to the ViSK.com British Superbike Championship three rounds ago, Wiltshire rider Tommy Bridewell continued his podium success at Mallory Park in Leicestershire on Sunday.
Aboard the Team NB Suzuki GSX-R1000K6, the 20-year-old from Etchilhampton near Devizes claimed 11th place overall in the incident-packed opening race, which netted him a second place finish in the Mirror.co.uk Cup class for privateer teams, despite rear handling problems, to add to his victories at Knockhill and Snetterton.
But any hopes Tommy had of continuing his good run came to an end just prior to the day's second outing after a cloudburst had soaked the track which necessitated a short practice session for the Superbikes.
With no experience in the wet aboard the machine, the team took a gamble on a rear suspension setting and a hard tyre for the session but unfortunately, the combination didn't work and because the team didn't have time to revert to the original settings, it meant Tom had to sit out the race, much to his disappointment.
Tommy said afterwards: "We had a good start to the weekend but the results didn't work out as we hoped but that said, I wouldn't have believed anyone if they'd have said I'd be standing on the Mallory Park podium again this season! I had a good start in race one and was lapping comfortably when something went wrong at the back end and slowed me up. I'm not sure if it was a tyre or a suspension problem but it handicapped me and I could only finish second in the Cup. Race two was a real lottery and we had to take a gamble in the wet practice session just beforehand but we only had the one spare wheel rim and went for a hard compound tyre which didn't work so I had no option but to sit that out. But we'll be back at Brands Hatch next time and gunning for those wins again but in the meantime, we need to work on our wet weather settings."
Team Manager Marcus Bridewell commented: "We had a weekend of woes what with problems with the electronics on the bike and then the issues with the tyres and suspension because of the weather. I'm really pleased we came to Mallory and I'm delighted for Tommy to get on the podium again but it's also a little bit disappointing as we're used to winning now! Well be back at Brands and we'll be trying even harder."
Results:
Race 1 (22 laps)Tommy Bridewell 11th (2nd in Mirror.co.uk Cup)1, James Ellison (Yamaha)2, Leon Camier (Yamaha)3, Graeme Gowland (Yamaha)4, Michael Rutter (Honda)5, Julien Da Costa (Kawasaki)6, Gary Mason (Honda) (Cup)7, Steve Brogan (Honda) 8, Ian Lowry (Suzuki)9, David Johnson (Yamaha)10, Tristan Palmer (Kawasaki)11, Tommy Bridewell (Suzuki) (Cup)Race 2 (30 laps)
Tommy Bridewell (DNS)1, Leon Camier (Yamaha)2, James Ellison (Yamaha)3, Chris Walker (Yamaha)4, John Laverty (Kawasaki)5, Richard Cooper (Yamaha) (Cup)6, Michael Rutter (Honda)7, Karl Harris (Honda)8, Tommy Hill (Suzuki)9, Steve Brogan (Honda)10, Julien Da Costa (Kawasaki)
Mirror.co.uk Cup Championship Positions1, Gary Mason (Honda) 275.5pts2, Peter Hickman (Yamaha) 231pts3, Martin Jessopp (Honda) 160pts4, Tom Tunstall (Honda) 156.5pts5, Tommy Bridewell (Suzuki) 108pts
