MCE British Superbike rider Tommy Bridewell made his first appearance on a Supersport bike in six years when he took to the track for Team Lorini for the World Supersport practice sessions at Imola today.
The Devizes swearbox found adjusting to the middleweight not easy after spending the last few seasons on a litre bike but stresses it is not a permanent switch and he will be at Snetterton next weekend on the Bathams Honda.
"The team called me and asked if I liked to ride in Imola for them. It was through my Italian crew that I have in the UK, who done the deal and that was that really. There is nothing much behind it all it was a last minute phone call and a last minute deal put together and I decided to go out and do it," said Bridewell, speaking to bikesportnews.com this evening.
The Englishman has hinted that changes have been made inside Bathams garage and that they are currently having a 'revamp', and this meant the team had to miss out on testing at Snetterton on Tuesday.
"I will be at Snetterton, I am still riding for IWR Honda. My focus is in England that is where my main concentration is, this is just an opportunity for me to come out and ride. Basically Ian [Woollacott] with the IWR Honda team are making some improvements with the team and with the bike. We didn't have a fantastic Knockhill and are now really revamping the team, which is good news so I am looking forward to Snetterton now.
"Obviously the only downside is that because we have so much work to do with the Superbike team we were unable to do the Snetterton test because we didn't have any parts. So the opportunity to race the World Supersport bike came up so it was perfect, so now I have no excuses for testing or riding because I am riding a lot at the minute.
"Today was the first time that I have ridden a Supersport bike for six years. It is very difficult as it is nothing like a Superbike, as I have to ride it out of my comfort zone. Today I was very happy with my lap times, but the positions were poor. Also the problem I had was that I have never ridden the circuit before, so I had to learn that and I felt I learnt the track very fast. But I feel comfortable and happy that I can knock some more time off tomorrow."
Bridewell will use this weekend to get bike fit, and is already enjoying his time with the Italian team. But even though the rider is focused on competing in the British Superbike series he has not ruled out returning to the Lorini Team in the future.
"The team here are very enthusiastic and their passion is fantastic, and it is nice to be in the paddock, but my main priority is British Superbike and it is my main focus. This weekend is good fun and I will see what I decide to do with it in the future."
