Knockhill: Round 2

The Oxford Products Ducati Racing team made the long trip north this weekend to the second round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Knockhill Circuit where Tommy had a promising weekend with an eighth, fifth and seventh.

Tommy was struggling during the practice sessions to find a setting that he felt comfortable with at the tight and technical circuit. However, he was able to put in a fast lap towards the end of FP2 which put him into the Superpicks 12, straight into the qualifying two session.

Tommy worked hard during qualifying but ended up starting race one from 14th place. He knew he had a lot of work to do, he got a great start and was soon pushing forwards. He was able to work his way through to a strong eighth place. This also put him on eighth on the grid for race two on Sunday.

He got a steady start in race two but soon got into a rhythm and worked hard to secure a fantastic fifth place. For the final race of the weekend he was placed in eighth again and had to do all the work again, he had another tough battle but brought the Oxford Products Ducati home in seventh place

In our Moto 3 news we had a mixed weekend, Ryan Hitchcock pushed hard during practice to be 2nd fastest but the next mornings qualifying session was wet and he started 12th on the grid with Ollie Walker in 18th. Both of them had good starts but Ryan fell at the hairpin while Ollie pushed through to finish 8th.

Race 2 was better for them both with Ryan in 9th and Ollie in 6th with a lap time of 54.999.

Tommy Bridewelll: “It was a positive weekend, I am happy with the progress we made all weekend and as always the team worked so hard. We missed the test at Knockhill, which put us on the back foot so we had to work extra hard to get the results.

Knockhill isn’t my favourite circuit and I don’t think it’s the strongest for Ducati, I’m glad it’s done and out the way now and we can move onto tracks where I know we go well.

I think we’ve had a strong start to the season, we are understanding the bike really well now and looking forward to the rest of the 2021 campaign. I can’t wait to get to Brands and use all the potential the Ducati has there."

We now head to Brands Hatch for round three of the Championship where we have seen much success for all our riders and hope to see some of you there now we can have more crowds back!

Building and running a BSB race bike – how much really goes into it?

Although a superbike may look like a regular machine you could ride out of a dealership, it really is anything but. Carl Stevens recently caught up with the Oxford Products Racing team at Moto Rapido to find out just what it takes to build and race one of these weapons.

Whether you’re heavily into your racing or not, there’s no denying that top level racing bikes really are works of art; machines sculpted with the sole purpose of being as fast as possible. Every single part on a superbike there for function, whether that’s to keep it on the cusp of the rulebook, or to shave off those vital tenths when it comes down to gunning for a lap time.

And standing at the side of a track, although a superbike looks trick it’s only when you get up close that you can really appreciate the time, effort and extravagance that goes into creating one of these monsters. For example, the Oxford Products Racing Ducati is a relatively small team, running out of the workshop of Moto Rapido Ducati in Hampshire, yet even so, there is a mechanic whose sole, full-time job is just to work on Tommy Bridewell’s race bike. It’s not just a case of bolting some bits on either, oh no, as nothing is that simple. For example, with such a busy schedule for this year, the team need a bunch of engines in rotation, yet even these take days to put together. They come direct from Ducati Corse in Italy, and arrive as multiple boxes of parts and bolts, that is then assembled by the crew in Winchester. But it sets the scene nicely for the little details; the thumb brake, for example operates the clutch and the clutch lever operates the rear brake, and every single part of the Panigale looks like it was crafted to perfection – which, if you’ve ever built a race bike before, you’ll know is nigh on impossible.

And then pretty much everything around the engine has been designed solely for this exact machine, in this exact championship. The exhaust and the tank for example are built for Moto Rapido to an exact spec, which then means that they need to make bespoke fairings to fit on, which then means that they alter the engine covers to look and fit nicely… the list goes on, and that’s before they even switch it on.

Because that’s where the hard work really begins. In line with British Superbike rules, all machines run a spec Motec ECU, which means that the amount of fine tuning that has to be done to create a fast, effective race bike that will make a tyre last over a full race distance is infinite. And we haven’t even touched on the datalogging of brakes, throttle trace, suspension…

But don’t just take our word for it – Watch the video below to get the inside line from Steve ‘Wilf’ Moore on what it takes to manage a successful superbike squad.

Oulton Park: Round 1

The opening round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship took place this weekend at Oulton Park for the Oxford Products Ducati team and Tommy Bridewell. It was a good start to the season for Tommy and the team with pole position, two third places and a DNF.

Tommy looked strong from the start on Friday and he was soon settling into a good rhythm on the Ducati and they were eager to get going. He had a fantastic qualifying session and set the first pole position of the season for the opening race on Saturday.

He did not get one of his usual flying starts and had to battle for position in the opening laps. Tommy pushed hard throughout the race and started the season with a podium in third place.

For race two he started from fifth place on the grid and was in the mix at the front in the early stages dicing for positions. However, he went to make a pass on Tarran Mackenzie but realised he was not going to make the corner, he was forced to run straight on but clipped Tarran on the way through, which caused a problem with his chain and Tommy was forced to retire.

Tommy started 12th for the final race of the weekend and the team knew there was a lot of work to do to get a podium position. Tommy put the work in and moved his way through the field quite quickly, he was soon on the back of Tarran and looking for a podium position. He made a solid clean pass on him for third and started to hunt down the leaders, O’Halloran and Iddon. Despite his hard work it was another third place but a very good position after the lower starting place.

Tommy – “It was a strong weekend for us for the start of the season. The race results were as we wanted but it was hard work all weekend. We had strong pace from the start and I felt really confident with the bike, the team, as always did a mega job.

Everything worked perfectly, I’m so happy on the bike, we were able to make the tyres last and we managed to preserve the new tyre really well and run a strong pace at the front.

It was my fault in race two when I had a coming together with Tarran, which caused the chain to come off but we were running well again up to that point but it was a shame as it could have been another good result.

I can’t thank the team enough for all their hard work, through the off season and this weekend to allow me to just get on and ride it hard. It’s a really strong start for 2021 with pole position and two podiums and it sets us up well for Knockhill, which I am looking forward to.”

A BSB test ban sees a rise in training bikes. But what exactly is one?

Bennetts British Superbike teams aren’t permitted to go testing in exotic places or even Spain this season in order to save some wedge. So an increasing number of riders are getting themselves training bikes in order to stay track sharp over the big winter break.

Oxford Racing Ducati's Thomas Bridewell is one such rider and he has his own, self-funded (at a discount) Panigale V4R which he will use to keep himself bike fit but what exactly is a training bike? Team boss Steve Moore explains: "Well there is some confusion. Racing, testing and practice are all very different things and serve different purposes with different costs, so we use different bikes.

Testing is using a BSB-spec bike, with the whole team there to run through what works on all aspects of setup. Chassis, electronics, motor specification, tyres. It’s very involved and very expensive in terms of logistics, staff and material costs of using a full superbike.

To save a lot of budget, there will be no testing this year in southern Europe for BSB Superbike teams or riders. All the teams were in agreement and the organisers have instead launched a UK based testing programme, so the track time is fully relevant to our racing too.

This is great for the teams to save money and have more relevant testing, but it leaves the rider without action for six months. So, apart from just getting grumpy about not riding, it’s impossible to keep bike fit and focused, so they go practicing.

You’ll see riders on mini-bikes, pit-bikes, off-road riding and as we get closer to the start of testing in the UK, they pack a van and go to few tracks with a modified road bike spend a few days riding round to warm up for the testing programme and season.”

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Steve continues, "It’s a good compromise. The cost of lapping round on a road bike and the logistics required are a tiny fraction of Superbike testing costs and the rider gets fit enough that we don’t waste valuable testing time while they warm up after the break.

As well as a BSB team we are a motorcycle shop and workshop, so we prepare many track-day Ducatis, so it was simple to put a V4R together for Tommy. It’s not a gift, he bought it himself... with some staff discount.

The spec of training bikes is simple, it’s a road bike with road bike electronics, swingarm, brakes, just with some track upgrades from K-tech, Termignoni, HEL Performance, Fullsix Carbon and Spider racing (I make no apologies for name dropping our sponsors, who helped with this bike too).

Then we paint it, add the Oxford Products logos and he’s ready to go and get fit and train.”

This article is published with thanks to Bike Sport News.

Oxford Products Racing Ducati announce Bridewell’s return for 2021 season

Tommy Bridewell will return to Oxford Products Racing Ducati for the 2021 British Superbike Championship season, signing a deal to remain with the Ducati dealership team for a third full campaign.

Bridewell joined the Winchester-based team midway through the 2018 season and since joining forces, together they have celebrated two race wins and a further 24 podiums in the Championship, with their strongest finish in 2019, when they ended the season in third place in the title fight.

The news of Bridewell’s return to Moto Rapido Racing for next season follows the recent announcement from the team that they have extended their title partnership agreement with Oxford Products for a further two years into the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

Tommy Bridewell: “The decision to stay with Moto Rapido Racing with Oxford Products was simple for me – the Ducati V4R is the best bike and I believe in the team and the crew. Previously throughout my career I jumped between bikes and teams after each season and never found a comfortable position, but since joining Moto Rapido I feel at home and I am happy in the team environment and that is how you get the best out of me. Obviously, it was a no-brainer to continue that next season.

“We sat down and we want to understand why 2020 didn’t go as expected after such a good year in 2019. We talked about next season and straight away, we all wanted to stay together. I wanted to get the deal done to stay with the team and now we can move straight on to what we can do to come out of the blocks in 2021 fighting where we know we can be. I know we will get on top of it, because I believe in the team and we want to be winning races again."

Team Owner Steve Moore: “Tommy signed for year three - well I must say I didn’t expect this in 2018 when we were both thrown together, but it has been a great fit from the start. Tommy is a highly skilled and talented rider, who is at home in our team. He was my first choice for 2021 and Oxford Products, Ducati and all our sponsors and team are delighted.

“After a fantastic 2019 the team worked perfectly and I’m very pleased to say after the much more challenging 2020 we still are. The test of a team is when it is hard, not when it is easy and we are stronger than ever. Securing Tommy for 2021 means that we have everything we need - everything we have learnt from the last two seasons with the V4R is so valuable when you can keep the same rider. I’m really looking forward to getting back on the podium in front of our fans.”

Moto Rapido Racing announce extended two year title partnership with Oxford Products

The Moto Rapido Racing team has announced a continuation of their title sponsorship with Oxford Products for a further two seasons ahead of next year’s British Superbike Championship, with 2021 marking their third consecutive season in their extended partnership.

Oxford Products first joined forces with the Ducati dealership-run team as title partner for the 2019 season with the Winchester-based squad, and since then together, they have secured race wins and podium finishes in the championship, ending their 2019 campaign in third place in the final standings.

The renewal of the partnership, which will total four consecutive seasons in 2022, further shows the Oxford company’s association with motorcycle racing, which began in the 70s and has supported riders including Robert Dunlop, Steve Hislop, Jim Moodie, Jeremy McWilliams and most notably Trevor Nation.

Moto Rapido Racing Team Owner, Steve Moore: “This is massive for us and the best thing to come from 2020! Times are uncertain and securing high quality sponsors who understand the commercial and sporting side of BSB is harder than ever, so I’m absolutely delighted to continue with our leading sponsor not only for next year, but also into the 2022 season, which shows their dedication and commitment to our team.

“The Oxford partnership has been a great success from the start, so to continue this relationship for another two years together is ideal. Oxford Products is a perfect fit with our team and I’m very pleased and proud to work with them to continue their racing history.”

Oxford Products Managing Director, Andrew Hammond: “Oxford is delighted to continue with Moto Rapido in BSB for another two years, cementing their place at the sharp end of the BSB paddock. To have an Oxford Products Racing team in the world’s best domestic motorcycle racing championship is a thrill that we never grow tired of!”