Tommy Bridewell finished runner-up in last year’s Bennetts British Superbike Championship title fight and the Oxford Products Racing Ducati rider heads to Snetterton this weekend (9/10/11 September) determined to consolidate his position in the top eight ahead of the Showdown.
Bridewell celebrated a double podium finish last time out at Cadwell Park, elevating himself to sixth in the standings, arriving at this weekend’s crucial round with a 37-point buffer between him and Danny Buchan who is just outside the top eight, holding ninth.
The Oxford Products Racing Ducati rider claimed a hat trick of podium finishes at the Norfolk circuit last year, battling with the McAMS Yamaha pairing to put himself into title contention in the Showdown, so has high hopes for the weekend ahead.
Bridewell said: “Cadwell Park was ok; it was really ticking the boxes with two podium finishes, three stable positions to continue clocking up solid points and beating the Showdown guys who are around me in the championship standings at the moment. That was the main objective of the weekend and that was what we did.
“It would have been nice to have been able to fight a bit harder for the win, but you have to evaluate the risk versus reward – we need to be in the Showdown.
“Snetterton we need to focus on what we need to achieve. We are here and expect to fight for the championship and we have had a steadier start to the season perhaps compared to what I had hoped but the beauty of the Showdown is that it gets reset almost after Snetterton.
“There is an element of we still just need to keep our nose clean this weekend, more so for the Saturday race. It would be nice to be in a decent position after the Saturday race so we are more relaxed for the two Sunday races. I don’t really ride thinking about needing to confirm the Showdown because if I don’t make the Showdown, somewhere along the line this season we have underperformed.
“Obviously we got some good mileage at Cadwell with the new things we had to test and got an understanding. There was an instant improvement for me, where I went out and thought ‘this feels better’. But with Cadwell you almost reach a point and that is it, because we were on lap record pace and there isn’t much else you can find.
“At Snetterton there are corners and areas where I think we can almost maximise the newer potential of the bike, around turn one, three, the last long right hander. The new spec of the bike should help us there to be honest so I think we need to roll out on Friday, see where we are, and go from there.
“I have rode the bike in ’19, ’20 and ’21 and three years of experience of when the bike was born as such to how far we have come with it now. There have been ups and downs along the way but I can compare it, so that is the main thing. I know how it felt in other seasons and it is the feeling I am searching for to get it exactly as we want it. I don’t think we are far away, so I am hoping at Snetterton, my expectation is that we can get the bike where I want it and if we can do that then I can fight for the race wins for definite. That is the plan. If we can get the bike where I want it, we can be strong for sure.
“To be fair to Brad and Jason they have had a mega season and they have been the most dominant two riders, they are ahead of us on podium points and it will be difficult to overhaul that so I can only try and beat them. That will get me so far and then some luck, we have seen it before, we get to the final three rounds and anything can happen – the weather, there are a lot of factors that can come into play. We need to get the Showdown confirmed and then hit the reset and then look at our targets for the British Championship and we will keep working.”