Milwaukee Yamaha’s Tommy Bridewell braved the mixed conditions to finish as the top Showdown rider during the MCE British Superbike qualifying session at Assen, and starts race one from third on the grid tomorrow.

Bridewell found the conditions ‘horrible’, but after working hard with his team managed to find a setup that helped him find some pace, to push his bike on to the front row. The rider did top the timesheets during part of the session and was on course to bag a provisional pole position, but was pipped to the post by Tyco Suzuki’s John Hopkins and eventual pole-setter, Alstare Bimota Junior’s Christian Iddon.

“It was horrible conditions out there, and I went out there quite early on to find my feet, and no matter how much I wanted to improve my bike the conditions wouldn’t allow me to and it was a bit of a lost cause,” said Bridewell, at the track.

“So I stayed out there and I could have done with a bit of a fresher tyre as it started to dry a bit. I was on provisional pole for part of it, but got pipped, but a front row is still good enough, and I am the top of the title fighters.

“Now we have to concentrate on tomorrow and hopefully it is dry. We have made a massive improvement with the Milwaukee Yamaha this morning, and I am looking forward to racing tomorrow.”

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