The PBM team celebrated an emotionally charged ninth Bennetts British Superbike Championship win at Brands Hatch as Tommy Bridewell claimed the crown in spectacular style to finish ahead of BeerMonster Ducati teammate Glenn Irwin by just 0.5 points – the closest championship-winning margin in series history. This completed the team’s bid to secure the title in the memory of late team owner Paul Bird.
Bridewell stood on the top step of the podium a career best eight times in 2023 and finished on the podium on a further ten occasions. Bridewell entered the last day of the season as series leader but was forced to fight hard to claim the title in the final two crucial races of the season to become champion for the first time.
The battle between the PBM team’s two riders went right down to the final lap of the season, with the pendulum swinging no fewer than eight times during a thrilling 20-lap encounter on the Grand Prix circuit.
The BeerMonster Ducati teammates entered Sunday with Bridewell leading Irwin by 10.5 points with a maximum of 70 still available. Irwin did what he had to do to try and take the title from his teammate and fierce rival, delivering an imperious victory in the second race of the weekend.
The title battle went right down to the very last race of the season, with Kyle Ryde remaining the only mathematical outsider to a PBM title. Irwin once again produced an impressive performance under immense pressure to pass the chequered flag first, but the decisive move came further back.
Bridewell started the final lap of the year in third, knowing that he needed to pass Ryde to take the title. And that’s exactly what he did with a pass at Druids for the final time. Bridewell rode home to second place and the title as the PBM team secured another one-two finish the season.
The title victory adds to PBM’s unprecedented success within the history of the championship, adding to their consecutive titles in 2002 and 2003 with the late Steve Hislop and Shane 'Shakey' Byrne respectively. Byrne then added to the victories in 2012, 2014 and consecutively in 2016 and 2017, before Scott Redding and Josh Brookes completed the feat with the team in 2019 and 2020 respectively.