Tommy Bridewell will begin his Bennetts British Superbike Championship title defence next weekend (April 20-21) at Circuito de Navarra as the reigning champion aims to get the new season with Honda Racing UK off to the best possible start.
Bridewell was fifth fastest at the opening R&G Official Test at Donington Park earlier this month, and now he is looking forward to the season opener in Northern Spain as he prepares to line up on the grid with the number one plate for the first time. The reigning champion will make Bennetts BSB history if he successfully defends his title, becoming the first rider to win consecutive titles with two different manufacturers.
Speaking after the recent R&G Official Test at Donington Park, Bridewell said: “It was a really good strong positive outing I think for me at Donington Park. I had itchy feet because it looked like the weather was going to be wet for those two days and I was panicking a bit thinking that I would not have rode the bike going into Navarra.
“We were really fortunate that we managed to get quite a lot of laps under our belt there. Honestly, that test was nothing but positive. A positive feeling with the team, positive feeling with the bike; a lot of elements of the bikes in truth are quite similar to the Ducati, but then there are other elements of the bike that I do have to adjust my riding style for.
“The two days there were just riding laps and laps and laps. My crew chief Chris Pike asked ‘do you want to change anything?’ I said ‘yeah we can change some bits, but you take the lead on it because I don’t necessarily know what the bike should be doing or what I want from it quite yet’. We were getting faster and stronger and not changing much. Just generally we were getting faster and stronger by me doing more laps and understanding the bike, which was the main objective. That was a really positive test and we are looking forward to Navarra.
“I think in truth Navarra is going to be a platform for us to build our championship. I don’t go to Navarra thinking I have to win both races, but the goal is to go and win both races. I wouldn’t be a racer if I said anything different!
“The main focus is to go and build a really strong base for the championship, that’s our objective. Yes, there are riders with the same team, same bike and they look on paper, really strong, but I think we’ll be in a good, strong position to certainly be there or thereabouts, but I can’t on record or even off record to say where, I don’t know at the minute! But going on where we fared up at the Donington Park test, we’ll definitely be in the mix!”