Ollie crashes at 160mph as tom hits trouble… Following on from their superb starts to the 2006 British Championship season, Etchilhampton near Devizes in Wiltshire brothers Tommy and Ollie Bridewell both suffered setbacks when round three of series took place at Thruxton in Hampshire today (Easter Monday).
Riding at their local track and in front of a sell out record crowd at the historic circuit, neither rider made it to the finish of their respective races due to a number of problems throughout the weekend aboard their respective Vivaldi Suzukis.
17 year old Tommy was hoping to add to his points tally where he was inside the top fifteen at the opening two rounds but handling problems on his 600cc Suzuki hindered his progress in the British Supersport Championship. Faced with an uphill struggle from a lowly sixth row grid position, Bridewell made a good start but following on from a near crash on the opening lap which had him out of the saddle, he decided to call it a day instead of risking a crash around Britain’s fastest race track:
“I’m bitterly disappointed as Thruxton is one of my favourite tracks but we just couldn’t get the bike to handle all weekend long. If I’d continued in the race, I would have crashed and the last thing I needed after regaining my fitness was another injury so discretion was the better part of valour today” said a bitterly disappointed Tommy.
Meanwhile elder brother Ollie was once again impressive aboard the 1000cc Vivaldi Suzuki which he had taken to top ten placings in the first two rounds of the series but any hopes he had of increasing his score in front of his local fans were thwarted in both 22 lap Bennetts British Superbike Championship races.
The 20 year old set an impressive 14th fastest time during the Audi Performance Qualifying session on Sunday but an electrical fault meant he had to retire form race one in the early stages. Determined to put his misfortune behind him, Ollie got a rip-snorter of a start in race two and and inside the top eight for the opening laps when he had to take avoiding action as Rizla Suzuki rider James Haydon crashed in front of him. Undeterred, Ollie set about chasing the leading bunch again when he lost the front end at the 160mph plus Church Corner and crashed out spectacularly, luckily without major injury:
“That was the fastest crash I’ve ever had and the bike is looking a little worse for wear now which I’ve apologised to the team for. I was so mad as I was running with the leading bunch and I knew I had the pace to stick with them but I tried just a little hard and down I went. Still, apart from some missing skin, I’m OK and hope to get back to scoring points next time out at Oulton Park” said Ollie.
The next round of the respective championships takes place in two weeks time at Oulton Park, Cheshire over the weekend of April 30th and May 1st.
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