Etchilhampton near Devizes in Wiltshire racing brothers Tommy and Ollie Bridewell once again experienced mixed fortunes at another hot and sunny round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship when round seven was contested at Snetterton in Norfolk this weekend. 17 year old Tommy continued where he left off at Mallory Park two weeks previous by recording another top ten placing in the British Supersport Championship whereas 20 year old Ollie endured even more bad luck in both races of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship to return home once again pointless.
Riding the 600cc Vivaldi Suzuki, Tommy qualified on row three of the grid in ninth position and made a brilliant start to run in the top seven for the opening stages but the super-fast straights of the Snetterton venue meant he was struggling against the faster bikes and eventually he had to settle for tenth position at the flag.
For Ollie, it was a case of what might have been as despite qualifying on row six, the 1000cc Vivaldi Suzuki rider was challenging for the lower leaderboard points in the opening race but a do-or-die effort on the final lap failed to work out and as a result, he ended up 18th and then in the red-flagged race two, 20 year old Ollie was running inside the top ten when a clutch problem forced him out of the restart.
“It was very frustrating that I could hold my own with the leaders on the corners but as the race progressed, they just ground me down on the straights as I didn’t have the same speed as them. Still, that’s some more important points in the bag and I’m very confident of a good result in the next round at Knockhill” said Tommy who elevated himself to joint twelfth in the championship standings as a result.
For elder brother Ollie, having scored a podium finish on his last visit to Snetterton, he too was left frustrated:
“I’ve scored no points this weekend but it feels as though I have and I’m pleased with the way I rode in both races. It’s typical of my luck that we has a problem in race two as I felt I could have done well there and in race one, I bought a ticket on the final lap but I didn’t win the raffle!. Still, Knockhill should be good for us and I’m looking forward to scoring some more points up in Scotland” said Ollie who dropped to 20th in the championship having non-scored in his last eight races now.
The next round sees the brothers Bridewell make the long trip north to Knockhill in Scotland over the weekend of July 14th to 16th.
Picture courtesy of Paul Korkus.
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