Tyco BMW’s Tommy Bridewell will put it all on the line in search of wins at this weekend’s Silverstone MCE British Superbike round as anything less than a podium is not on his radar.
The Devizes man had a a tough weekend at Assen using a new swingarm but says he will solider on with it as team-mate Michael Laverty has made it work to his advantage, bagging his first top-three finish of the year.
"I think looking back on Assen straight afterwards I was perhaps more negative than I should have been. When I look at it again now we had the brand new swingarm and the conditions were so changeable from dry to wet and then we went back to what we knew on Saturday. Although it was like riding a different bike I don't feel like we had a true assessment. Ideally we would have had more time in the same conditions,” said Bridewell.
"We are currently in that next wave of riders on track, the second pack, and it won't take much to be further forward than that. The other teams have data from previous years to fall back on whereas we have to start everything from scratch. Michael [Laverty] had a good race at Assen and we know that the BMW has the power for the fast circuits like Assen and Silverstone.
"I think at Silverstone we will revert back to the new swingarm and give it another go. It's so difficult to win and we had a tough one at Assen, but you need those weekends sometimes as they make you work even harder. It is difficult when we don't have the magic answer but we know we want more at Silverstone.
"I am not approaching these weekends looking at the championship, you could say we want top fives or podiums, but if I can't be at least top three or can see a win then where we finish is actually irrelevant to me. A podium makes you feel like you have achieved something in a race and I know that sometimes I should take a step back, but I can't. I want to be fighting and know that I have given everything I have to be fighting for the win.
"I have no interest in fighting for just the top five or even the podium, I want to be winning. If there is a chance of the wins at Silverstone then I will risk everything to make it happen."
