Quay Garage Racing rider Tommy Bridewell's long trip north to Scotland proved fruitless as round six of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Knockhill saw him not add to his points haul after a problematic weekend.
Aboard the 1000cc Honda Fireblade, the 21 year old from Etchilhampton near Devizes in Wiltshire was hopeful of a good result and after setting seventh fastest time during Friday's free practice session, things were looking good but during Saturday's Swan Combi Roll for Pole, Bridewell set eighth fastest time but a technical riding infringement saw him penalised four places so he had to start the opening race from row three of the grid.
Race day dawned wet and windy and after a good session in the wet, Tommy was hopeful of a good result but an electrical problem was diagnosed afterwards and then on the warm up laps, the ex Gregorio Lavilla CBR1000RR developed a gearbox problem meaning Bridewell was up against it, the problems being compounded with a grip issue in the wet conditions of race one which saw him eventually retire.
The team was hoping for a better result in race two but after a first lap collision which caused a red flag, the weather subsequently closed in meaning no further racing was possible so as a result, the abandoned race will take place at one of the remaining rounds, probably Snetterton in two weeks time.Tommy said: "It's been one of those weekends and it's been a long drive for not a lot really. We were hit with a penalty in qualifying which was unfortunate and was something that wasn't deliberate on my part but we accepted the decision and hoped for a good result today. That wasn't to be as we suffered a few niggling problems and I was nearly crashing on every corner so the safe thing was to pull in. We made some big changes for race two but that didn't happen and it was the right thing to do to postpone the race so hopefully they'll run that at Snetterton next time out as I really enjoy racing there and got my first BSB podium there last year "
The next round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Chmapionship takes place at Snetterton over the weekend of 16/18 July.MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship race 1 (15 laps)
1 Michael Rutter (Ducati) 13m32.658s2 Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) +0.577s3 Josh Brookes (Honda) +6.187s4 Michael Laverty (Suzuki) +9.363s5 Alastair Seeley (Suzuki) +13.295s6 John Laverty (Kawasaki) +18.708s7 Simon Andrews (Kawasaki) +21.149s8 Tommy Hill (Suzuki) +23.233s= Gary Mason (Kawasaki) +23.233s10 Chris Walker (Suzuki) +28.717s
DNF Tommy Bridewell (Quay Garage Honda) - 10 laps
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship standings (after 6 rounds)1 Brookes 166pts2 Hill 1623 Kiyonari 1484 M Laverty 1465 Rutter 1396 J Laverty 1087 Seeley 1018 Easton 929 Walker 6510 Jessopp 5711 Bridewell 50
2010 MCE Insurance British Superbike Calendar R1 Brands Hatch 3/4/5 April R2 Thruxton 16/17/18 April R3 Oulton Park 1/2/3 May R4 Cadwell Park 21/22/23 May R5 Mallory Park 25/26/27 June R6 Knockhill 2/3/4 July R7 Snetterton 16/17/18 July R8 Brands Hatch GP 6/7/8 August R9 Cadwell Park 28/29/30 August R10 Croft 10/11/12 September R11 Silverstone GP 24/25/26 September R12 Oulton Park 8/9/10 October
