Tommy Bridewell slipped from third to fourth overall in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at the weekend with the Oxford Products Racing Ducati rider recording a best finish of fourth at the Leicestershire venue.

But the Wiltshire rider is still only 21 points adrift of championship leader Tarran Mackenzie and with the final round taking place at Brands Hatch, one of his favourite circuits on the calendar, he’s still very much in the title mix.
 
After crashing in the first race and only finishing seventh in the second, the gap to Mackenzie had stretched to 34 points but a fighting fourth for Bridewell in the final wet race, coupled with Mackenzie’s retirement, brought the deficit back down and he goes into the final three races in an optimistic mood. He recognises though that only wins will now suffice.
 
“I thought this was going to be the weekend where we’d take the lead in the Championship but the crash on Saturday put a big dent in those hopes,” Bridewell admitted afterwards.
 
“With only seventh in Sunday’s first race and with Tarran winning, I found myself 34 points behind and I was little bit disheartened to be honest. I didn’t feel great on the bike in the dry all weekend and just didn’t have the feel like I know how I want the bike to feel.
 
“I went with the harder tyre in the dry race, like a lot of other riders did, but I didn’t have the grip to fight for the podium.
 
“But fourth in the last race changed things again especially with Tarran retiring. He’s the one I’m looking at as the main threat for the championship so to be 21 points behind him going into the final round gives me a chance.
 
“The Donington GP circuit is my weakest out of the three Showdown venues but it’s out the way now and my only aim now is to go to Brands deep and try and win all three races.”
 
Bridewell’s fourth place in the final race was even more impressive as the team found a fault with the Ducati while back in the garage after the abandoned start. In the few minutes available they swapped the wiring loom and sensors as well as changing all the chassis parts required for the fully wet conditions to get their man back on track.