Highs and lows for Bridewell and his team at the French WorldSBK round

Round nine of the 2026 Superbike World Championship is in play at the French track of Nevers Magny-Cours, with the day bringing successes and setbacks for Superbike Advocates Racing and rider Tommy Bridewell.

The morning allowed the team to make use of a final free practice ahead of qualifying. Bridewell made a good step forward during this last brief preparatory session to improve on his best time of Friday by more than a second. His fastest lap, completed in 1’35.501, assured him of overall fourth place at the end of a session in which almost all riders improved on their earlier references.

A motivated Tommy was back out on track a couple of hours later for the Superpole. With just 15 minutes in which to make their mark, the British rider and his technicians wasted no time. Bridewell’s very first flying lap, set in a very rapid 1’35.225, was enough to immediately project him into second position. Having come into the pits mid-session to switch tyres, Tommy returned to the track eager for more. On course to improve on his previous best, the WorldSBK rookie perhaps pushed a little too hard, which resulted in an innocuous crash at Turn 15. Missing out on the final minutes of the qualifying as a result, Bridewell nevertheless qualified seventh. Unfortunately though, the rider’s efforts in Superpole were essential nullified, in that Tommy then received a back of grid penalty for a yellow flag procedure infringement.

Like Friday, conditions remained hot and sunny throughout the day, allowing Race 1 to get underway according to schedule at 3.30pm local time. Despite being among the fastest riders in Superpole, Bridewell was forced to start this initial 21-lap race from last place owing to the penalty received. With work to do from twentieth on the grid, Tommy knew he needed to push hard and fast. Making up five positions in the first lap or so, the Brit was soon up into the points zone. By lap seven Bridewell was lying thirteenth, within a second of tenth position and part of a large chasing group. It was not the SBK rookie’s day however, as a crash on lap nine, again at Turn 15, put paid to all his efforts up to that point. #46 was transferred to the medical centre where doctors declared him fit to continue with the weekend.

The Superbike Advocates Racing team will now reset and prepare for the final races making up this French WorldSBK weekend, which will play out tomorrow.

Tommy Bridewell (Superbike Advocates Racing #46)
“A rollercoaster of a day. We started FP3 with great feeling and great pace; we were P4 I think. I then found out that I’d be getting a penalty for the race, and I guess that frustrated me. In qualifying I made a good first lap and then with the second tyre I just went all in, to see what I could get out of both me and the bike. It was a small crash into the last corner, nothing major but it was what it was. I went into the race with a bit of a game plan, in that I knew I needed to be patient. And honestly, I felt that’s what I was doing. I knew I had good race pace for both the sprint and the long race, but at WorldSBK level no matter your pace, it’s always so hard to make passes. So, I got stuck behind the Yamahas and am not sure exactly what happened to be honest. I came into the corner the same as I had on other laps, or so I thought, but as soon as I shut the gas, that was that. Let’s see now. The team will work tonight to rebuild the bike, and we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”