Tommy Bridewell continues to build his performance on Sunday at Assen

Superbike Advocates Racing and rider Tommy Bridewell have completed another impressive WorldSBK race weekend at the Assen TT Circuit in the Netherlands.

The morning’s Superpole race began in dry conditions, but it wasn’t long before rain made its presence felt. Having made a clean start, Tommy was lying twelfth through the initial stages of this ten-lap sprint. Working hard to lap consistently within a group of five or six riders, he slipped a couple of positions after making a mistake, mid-race. Seeing a track limits warning on his dash and believing he needed to serve a long lap penalty that was instead intended for #47 Bassani, Bridewell lost valuable time. Pushing to regain the lost ground, the British rider ultimately crossed the line in fifteenth place, just 16 seconds from first.

For the final race of the weekend, Superbike Advocates Racing lined up in twelfth position in the grid based on Bridewell’s result in the previous Superpole race. Thirteenth through turn one, Tommy gained two positions already on lap one. Battling as part of a group comprising Bassani, Oliveira and Gardner, the British rider worked hard to lap with consistent pace and make a mark on the competition. Just missing out on points in closing P16 today, Bridewell and his team have nevertheless made consistent progress throughout the weekend, performing particularly well in Saturday’s Superpole.

Bridewell lies nineteenth in the championship standings, with six points collected so far. Superbike Advocates Racing will be back on track for round 4, scheduled to take place at Hungary’s Balaton Park Circuit on 1-3 May.

Tommy Bridewell (Superbike Advocates Racing #46)
“I think overall another positive day. It’s a learning curve as I said yesterday, for me and the team. Portimão was basically like a test for us, and for me particularly as I hadn’t really ridden at all. So going into that round was a fresh start, while here we knew we could begin to build some proper foundations. And we’ve done that, I’d say - no crashes, a strong qualifying and good pace across all three races. 

Sadly, I got pushed off track in Race 1, while in the Superpole race I made a mistake, serving a long lap penalty that wasn’t mine to serve. Coincidentally, I got a track limits warning on my dash and then saw a long lap penalty indicated when I came over the line and just presumed it was me. 

In the last race I made a decent start and felt relatively good until around seven laps from the end, after which the front tyre dropped. I’m using the front tyre too much right now, so we need to take a step, electronically, that can help me with that moving forward. I’m a bit disappointed with the last race but ultimately, we’ve built a strong foundation for the next rounds.”