A complex Misano weekend ends with a P14 for Bridewell in Race 2

The seventh Superbike World Championship round has concluded today at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli”, with rider Tommy Bridewell completing a positive Race 2 after a crash ruled him out of the morning’s Superpole race.

Starting P9 on the grid for the Superpole race thanks to a strong qualifying performance on Saturday, Tommy got away well when the lights went out. Lying eleventh through lap one, the SBK rookie was soon up into the top ten. Unfortunately, Bridewell’s progress was cut short after a crash at Turn 2 brought his race to a premature end on lap three. Unhurt in the incident, Tommy was able to reset and work with his technicians to prepare for Race 2.

The second and final WorldSBK race took place in the early afternoon, in temperatures as high as they were for Race 1 (track 32°C, air 53°C). Lining up for this 21-lap race in eleventh position, the British rider made a good start, jostling for position within a large group of riders. Slipping towards the back of that group in the initial laps, Tommy was able to climb back up to fourteenth place by lap seven. Managing the second half of his race despite the extreme conditions and a bike setup that was perhaps not ideal, the Brit was able to hold fourteenth to the line.

With 45 points collected so far, Bridewell lies sixteenth in the general standings. Next up for Superbike Advocates Racing is World Ducati Week, taking place at Misano World Circuit on 3-5 July, after which the team will prepare for the eighth WorldSBK round, which will be staged at Bridewell’s home track of Donington Park on 10-12 July.

Tommy Bridewell (Superbike Advocates Racing #46)
“A tough weekend to be honest, but we know we’re going to have some difficult ones. We’re definitely not doom and gloom anyway, and we know where we need to improve. We need to just keep working as, yes, we want to continue the upward trajectory but that’s not always going to be easy. We’ve made amazing progress so far this season and, even this weekend, I think the race results didn’t reflect our pace. In race 2, we made quite a bold electronics change and with hindsight it probably wasn’t the right time to try it. I made a good start but then struggled to manage the bike and ran off track a couple of times too. But we take the positives as always and will just keep working to build the momentum we’ve generated since the start of the season.”