After both riders failed to record a finish at their local track of Thruxton last time out, Etchilhampton near Devizes in Wiltshire brothers Ollie and Tommy Bridewell ventured north to Oulton Park for round four of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship and British Supersport Championship respectively, hoping for better luck.
As so it proved for 17 year old Tommy who overcame the handling problems that he experienced at Thruxton aboard his 600cc Vivaldi Suzuki to bring the bike home in a battling 15th place at the end of a frenetic sixteen lap race around the Cheshire parkland track.
Qualifying on row six of the grid for a second successive meeting, Tommy upped his game and became embroiled in a multi machine battle for the lower leaderboard places but bravely dug in and scored points for the third time in four races:
“I enjoyed that much more than Thruxton and the bike handled a lot better. As the race progressed, my rear tyre started losing grip as I’d worked it very hard in the opening stages and for the last three laps, I was struggling a bit. Still, I’m happy enough to be in the points again although I do think I could have been a few places higher had things worked out better but it wasn’t to be” said a rejuvenated Tommy.
Meanwhile elder brother Ollie, now fully recovered from the 160mph crash he experienced at Thruxton, was hoping to get back into the points for the Vivaldi Racing team but once again, Oulton Park proved to be a bogey circuit for the 20 year old.
A row seven start saw Ollie end up in a demoralising 24th place in race one of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship before redeeming himself a little with a fighting eighteenth place in the day’s second race held in dry but blustery conditions.
“I don’t know what it is about Oulton but I’ve left without a result again although I have to admit I learned a lot out there today. We’ve just got to move on now and that’s what I intend to do as we now go to tracks whereby I know I will be strong. I’m going to focus on learning the technical aspects of circuits from now on and that should help me progress as I really need to be racking up the points again soon” said Ollie.
The next round of the respective championships takes place in three weeks time at Mondello Park in County Kildare, Ireland over the weekend of May 20/21st.
Picture attached – (courtesy of Paul Korkus) Tommy Bridewell in action on his Vivaldi Suzuki at Oulton Park.
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