Tommy Bridewell leads the Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings into the opening round of the 2024 Showdown at Oulton Park this weekend and the defending champion is ready to attack as he bids to extend his 19-point advantage at the top of the table.
Bridewell was on the podium once at Oulton Park earlier in the season when he claimed second place in race two, but the Honda Racing UK rider is eager to maintain his edge as the title chase returns to Cheshire this weekend. A victory and a podium finish last time at Cadwell Park kept him ahead of his rivals, as the title battle reaches the crucial part of the season.
Bridewell said: “I am looking forward to now getting to the business end of the championship. We only have three rounds left now, and the points obviously change for the next rounds. We have done a lot of hard work to date when we know when we are able to fight for the victories or when they are not there or even top fives we have done what we needed to do. That approach we set out with at the start of the season has worked well for us because obviously for me adapting to the Honda and for the team learning the way the new bike works hasn’t been the click of the fingers and we have had to work hard.
“We found some bits at Cadwell Park that I was really chuffed with. We had a new link that has given us a lot more mid corner edge grip, which is something that I have been struggling with, so that was a real positive step. I am really happy with that and I believe that is going to help us going into the last three rounds in comparison to when we were there earlier in the season.
“I am looking forward to seeing how that helps us and I think for Oulton Park this weekend we have a slightly new engine spec as well. The team have been working hard, I have been training hard and now I am looking forward to getting down to business this weekend. It’s full attack mode and get stuck in and dig deep.”