The ride of a champion from 12th to 4th for Bridewell

Race Report Sunday 25th August 2024

In a day of mixed fortunes for Honda Racing UK, Tommy Bridewell puts the disappointment of a difficult qualifying behind him to race from twelfth on the grid to an impressive fourth at the chequered flag.

Not at all dissimilar to the rollercoaster-like nature of the Cadwell Park circuit, Sunday at round eight of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship was an up-and-down affair for Honda Racing UK. A crash for Andrew Irwin in FP3 resulted in his withdrawal from the remainder of the day with a medical assessment due first thing to ascertain his fitness.

In qualifying, Tommy then suffered a crash of his own and was unable to set a representative lap time. He therefore had to start the sole race of the day from twelfth, despite his impressive pace shown throughout the weekend to that moment.

Putting it all behind him for the race however, Tommy made a fantastic getaway from the line and positioned himself decisively on circuit to rapidly move up the order. By the end of the opening lap, he was up into eighth place and hunting down those ahead. Just three laps later he was up into sixth with his 2023 championship rival Glenn Irwin two seconds up the road in fifth.

Fast lap after fast lap followed and by lap ten he was right on the rear wheel of his competitor and clearly lapping with greater pace. Pulling a move into Park, Tommy was unable to make it stick as Glenn repassed him on the cutback. One lap later however Tommy pulled off the overtake and chased after O’Halloran ahead.

Just a few corners later though, Glenn dived through at the chicane and Tommy had to take evasive action, cutting across the grass and losing time as a result. But with all of the grit and determination of a champion, Tommy refused to be beaten and closed back in once more and pulled off the same overtake. Only this time it was for good. Not content with fifth place he then scythed past O’Halloran and into fourth at turn one on the final lap, a position that he would hold to the line.

In supersport it was also a day of celebration and heartbreak as a double front row in qualifying for Jack Kennedy and Dean Harrison sent the team into the race in a buoyant mood. An almost race-long duel followed for the lead as Jack and rival Luke Stapleford battled hard under lap record pace for the majority of the race. Then with two laps to go disaster would strike as Jack crashed out of second place.

Dean meanwhile had been battling hard from his third-place grid position to have a podium finish in sight on the final lap. Sitting in fourth on the final lap and right on the rear wheel of third, a move looked on the cards for a rostrum finish. In the run to the line out of the final corner though it just wasn’t meant to be as Dean finished agonisingly close to a podium visit and just 0.064 seconds back.

The team will be back in action tomorrow for the remaining races of the round.

#1 Tommy Bridewell

It was a good race, to be honest, I knew that it was really important to make the start and luckily I did. I got a really clear run through T1, T2 and then up onto the back straight which meant I was right up behind Brookes at the start. I then managed to get through on him but got stuck behind Leon for a little bit too long and lost a bit of time, which then meant the front guys got away a bit. When I came back at them I felt great and it was me and my old rival Glenn on circuit together. He duffed me up into the chicane and onto the grass which cost me a lot of time. I then had to work really hard to get back up to them and pass him again. I think without that we might have had the pace to get onto the back of Charlie in third maybe. I know how important those championship points are to win a championship and that’s why I fought tooth and nail to come up through to fourth. From where we were on the grid I have to be happy.

Race 1 - 4th

#5 Dean Harrison

Qualifying was good as we worked together and it came together perfectly with us both on the front row. I followed Jack for a few laps and then he followed me and we used the tow to best effect. I struggled off the line in the race because we had a problem with the tyre warmer, which meant I was a bit hesitant at the start. Truelove came past and I just struggled to get past him, compared to us he just has a much more powerful motorbike so it makes it challenging to get past, I can pull alongside the bigger CC bikes in the slipstream but then getting passed is almost impossible. Tomorrow I think we just need to be a bit more aggressive.

Race 1 - 4th

#4 Jack Kennedy

We worked really well together in qualifying today and it all went to plan. I thought with two minutes to go that I was safe, I had a gap of four-tenths then next time I came around I was three-tenths down, so fair play to Luke for putting that lap together. In the race, I got a good start, but Ben Currie got an even better one from the second row and got the lead. Luke then managed to get passed him and I followed and I was just trying to hold onto the back of him. The pace then was unbelievable, lap record pace for seven laps in a row and we were dropping Ben behind. There are so many different strengths and weaknesses between the two bikes which meant that the gap was swaying up and down. I knew that I could probably have a lunge but It’d compromise my exit. For my championship, I probably should have just stayed in second but the racer in me just couldn’t let it go. I wanted to do a move on the last lap but unfortunately, on the penultimate lap I crashed. I don’t really feel like I did anything different to any other lap and the team confirmed that in the data. It’s just one of them, pushing on the limit half a second under the lap record and folded the front. It’s very frustrating but we take the positives. The pace is amazing and we are the only 600 cc bike battling the bigger bikes week in, week out.

Race 1 - DNF