Knockhill - Round 4
It was a very productive weekend for Tommy Bridewell and the Oxford Products Racing Ducati team at round four of the Championship at Knockhill. Tommy secured an eighth, and two fifth places in the three British Superbike races.
It was a very productive weekend for Tommy Bridewell and the Oxford Products Racing Ducati team at round four of the Championship at Knockhill. Tommy secured an eighth, and two fifth places in the three British Superbike races.
The team have been working hard in the break on all aspects of the Ducati and they have made really good progress at Knockhill. It has always been a tricky track in the past for the team, so they are very happy with the results this weekend.
The weather conditions on Friday were mixed so the dry practice time was limited but Tommy was comfortably into the Superpicks qualifying session on Saturday. He qualified in ninth place for the opening race on Saturday, he had a good start and was locked in a battle with Glenn Irwin who held him back from the pack ahead and gained eighth place.
He was placed in sixth on the grid for race two on Sunday afternoon, he got another great start and had the leaders in sight, he was able to come home in a fantastic fifth place. Seventh on the grid for the final race of the weekend and he pushed hard with some very consistent, fast lap times to finish in fifth position.
Tommy Bridewell: “It was a good weekend, all in all it was a strong and positive weekend with three solid points scoring results which is certainly what we needed. We got a good direction with understanding the bike, we are making steps forwards now and it’s great, and this is only round four, so we are feeling much more confident for the rest of the season.
We need to analyse the data from this weekend and continue to make progress for Brands, I felt like I rode well and got the best out of the package. We are looking forward to Brands and hope to be fighting for podiums again very soon!”
Iain Hopcroft - Team Manager: “It was a good weekend for the team, we aim to build on our success each time we visit Knockhill. Tommy rode fantastically well and the team worked hard to achieve the points we needed to get us back in the top eight and in the title fight. Thanks to all the supporters that came this weekend, it was great to see such a huge crowd there.”
DONINGTON PARK - ROUND 3
It was an extremely testing and frustrating weekend for Tommy Bridewell and the Oxford Products Ducati Racing team at round three of the British Superbike Championship at Donington Park. The team were able to salvage one eighth place from the weekend, Tommy then had a crash in race two and a DNF in race three.
It was an extremely testing and frustrating weekend for Tommy Bridewell and the Oxford Products Ducati Racing team at round three of the British Superbike Championship at Donington Park. The team were able to salvage one eighth place from the weekend, Tommy then had a crash in race two and a DNF in race three.
Track time was limited in the dry and with the mixed conditions on Friday it was always going to be a race against time to find a perfect set-up on the Ducati. Despite getting straight through to Q2, Tommy was only able to qualify in 15th place.
The team and Tommy worked tirelessly to solve the problems and despite their best efforts just were unable to make the Ducati push for podiums around Donington Park. He rode hard in race one on Saturday and gave his all to work his way through the pack to gain eighth and put points on the board.
He was placed in eighth on the grid for race two, a good start saw him in a good position but on lap two he tucked the front crashing out. Due to lack of laps in the second race he was placed in 13th for the final race of the weekend and once again he was pushing hard but was forced to retire with a technical problem.
It is certainly not the weekend the team were hoping for, but they will re-group before Knockhill and try and find some solutions to kick start their season.
The team are grateful to all their loyal sponsors for their continued support through the good and the bad. The good times will come, we are sure!
Tommy Bridewell: “It’s been a really difficult weekend; we’ve had a lot of head scratching this weekend trying to understand the bike and which way we need to go with it. It’s not been the start to the season we’d hoped or expected after finishing last season so strong.
I’m struggling to get a direction with the bike, we have a lot of work to do to get us back to where we should be. We will be working hard to rectify the faults and get it back on track as soon as possible.”
Iain Hopcroft, Team Manager: “The team had a tough weekend. We thought we would be much stronger than we were going into the weekend, it was unfortunate to have a crash in race two whilst Tommy was pushing for positions with the bike we gave him.
We believe in race three the fuel pump failed why he had to pull in and Tommy had done really well again to fight for positions. We are disappointed with how Donington went but we will work hard before Knockhill and the remainder of the season to get the results back where they should be.”
Oulton Park – Round 2
It has been a mixed weekend for Tommy Bridewell and the Oxford Products Ducati Racing Team at round two of the British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park. Tommy was sixth in the opening race; he had a small crash in race two and rounded off the weekend with a fantastic second place in the final race of the weekend.
It has been a mixed weekend for Tommy Bridewell and the Oxford Products Ducati Racing Team at round two of the British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park. Tommy was sixth in the opening race; he had a small crash in race two and rounded off the weekend with a fantastic second place in the final race of the weekend.
The weather conditions at Oulton Park were mixed on Friday and Saturday and it was hard to get some good consistent laps under their belt. There have been many changes to the Ducati this year and every track the team goes too they are starting fresh with new settings and making Tommy as comfortable as possible on the new machine.
Tommy was within the top five of both practice sessions on Friday and this automatically secured a place in the second qualifying session on Sunday. In FP3 Tommy topped the time sheets and his race pace was beginning to look strong. However, the weather changed for qualifying and in the tricky conditions Tommy ended up starting the opening race on Sunday from 16th place on the grid. He knew he had a lot of work to do but he always shines come the races, he got an average start but soon dug deep and began to make some strong passes and progress through the field. He was soon up to sixth place and rapidly catching the battle for the podium, sadly the race was red-flagged and cut short, he had to settle for sixth.
This promoted him on the grid to fifth for race two on Monday, in the dry conditions Tommy was eager to make quick progress through the field. He was about to make a pass for fourth but was caught out and tucked the front crashing out of the race. He’d managed a few laps and was placed in fourth on the grid for the final Superbike race. Another good start and great pace saw him eager to get a strong result. He managed to reel in race leader Brad Ray but in the process took Lee Jackson with him, he briefly took to the front but a move by Jackson saw Tommy pushed back to second, he had nothing more in the tank but secured a fantastic second place, his first podium of the season. He is now seventh in the Championship standings.
Tommy Bridewell: “It’s been an up and down weekend for definite. We got caught out in qualifying which made the weekend hard, we came through to a strong sixth from 16th on Sunday and we had strong pace.
I made a mistake in race two, but we bounced back in the final race to get second and our first podium of the season. It’s really positive all round and we still have a lot of work to do on this new spec bike but it’s certainly going in the right direction.
Thank you for all the teams sponsors and the supporters and we’re looking forward to some more strong results at Donington in a few weeks’ time.”
Silverstone – Round 1
It was the opening round of the British Superbike Championship this weekend for Tommy Bridewell and the Oxford Products Ducati Racing team at Silverstone Circuit. It was a solid start to the opening round and Tommy secured a seventh, eighth and a seventh in the three races.
It was a challenging weekend for the team as they struggled with set-up and tyre wear especially in the two longer races on Sunday. It has never been their strongest track and it is good now to be able to move on to some tracks that are more suited to Tommy and the Ducati.
It was the opening round of the British Superbike Championship this weekend for Tommy Bridewell and the Oxford Products Ducati Racing team at Silverstone Circuit. It was a solid start to the opening round and Tommy secured a seventh, eighth and a seventh in the three races.
It was a challenging weekend for the team as they struggled with set-up and tyre wear especially in the two longer races on Sunday. It has never been their strongest track and it is good now to be able to move on to some tracks that are more suited to Tommy and the Ducati.
Everyone worked extremely hard over the weekend and to leave in eighth position in the Championship standings is not a bad start to the Championship campaign. It is a very long season; it is important to pace ourselves and continue to get consistent Championship points.
Tommy had good practice and qualifying sessions and started the opening race on Saturday from fourth place on the grid. It’s hard to pass at Silverstone and only one main racing line but he got a reasonable start and was riding well but just lost rear grip from around the halfway point in the race, he slipped back to finish in seventh.
He was back in eighth for the second race on Sunday and the team made some overnight changes to help his progress. The races on Sunday were longer and his initial lap times were strong but once again struggled in the closing stages and had to settle for eighth place.
A big bold change for the final race of the weekend and Tommy started from seventh place, he worked hard and again had good pace, he secured another solid seventh position. Everyone worked extremely hard, they are now looking forward to moving on to more suited circuits and fighting for the podiums and wins.
Tommy Bridewell – “It was a positive but frustrating weekend; we need to understand what the difference is having the new parts on the bike. We can see the positives its made and we just need to unlock the true potential of the new bike to allow me to just make that step forwards.
It was a good weekend, the team worked great as always, we worked hard, we were learning all weekend. We knew it wouldn’t be easy as Silverstone has always been a tricky track for us in the past.
I’m really happy with the potential we have and the steps forward that we are definitely going to make, it will only get better at the rest of the rounds.”
Brands Hatch: The final round
“I’m disappointed to not lift the title but also really pleased to finish second, I couldn’t ask for anymore, the team have done a phenomenal job. I feel like I’m riding the best I’ve ever ridden and I’m really proud of every challenge thrown at me I’ve been there fighting”
Tommy Bridewell and the Oxford Products Ducati Racing team could not have given any more this weekend and tried so hard to take the Bennetts British Superbike Championship to the final race of the season. Tommy was astounding at Brands Hatch securing three hard fought second places but also clinched an amazing second place in the British Championship standings.
The weather conditions were a bit mixed this weekend especially for qualifying on Saturday. Tommy rode really hard to gain fifth on the grid for the opening Superbike race. He got a strong start and he was eager to get towards the front quickly. Despite a few collisions with Christian Iddon he was able to stay on, set some super-fast lap times and he was battling Tarren (Mackenzie) for the win. He just was not able to get the better of him and finished second place just 0.16!
He was so quick in race one he was sitting on pole position for race two on Sunday. He got a great start and really battled hard, he was locked in a scrap with Tarren again and led the majority of the race, narrowly avoiding a big crash when Taz had a huge moment out the back of the circuit and Tommy hit his rear wheel! He re-grouped got his head down, got back in the lead and the two had a drag to the line with Taz taking the win and the Championship by 0.087!
Once again Tommy was quickest in the race and sat on pole position again for the final race of the 2021 season. He got a fantastic start and was soon battling up at the front again; he soon took the lead and spent the entire race once again fending off Tarren Mackenzie. Taz snuck underneath him pushing Tommy back to second position at the end of the race.
We are excited already for the 2022 season; we are very grateful to all our loyal sponsors and great to always have their continued support. We would like to congratulate Tarren Mackenzie and the McAms Yamaha team on winning the Championship, we will be back again in 2022 and up for another fight!
Tommy Bridewell: “I’m really happy, obviously the goal was to come away with the Championship but we just couldn’t manage it despite how much we tried. To fight tooth and nail with Tarran all weekend was great, I had nothing left, I gave everything I possibly could, there was nothing left to give!
The last two or three rounds we’ve made massive progress, to have signed for next year and make this progress now is brilliant. I’m disappointed to not lift the title but also really pleased to finish second, I couldn’t ask for anymore, the team have done a phenomenal job. I feel like I’m riding the best I’ve ever ridden and I’m really proud of every challenge thrown at me I’ve been there fighting.
Second in the Championship is brilliant, top Ducati rider and now all our concentration will be focussed on 2022 and going one better.”
Iain Hopcroft: "Such an amazing season that we could not have achieved without each and everyone’s input!
I am so proud of the team and they deserve all your kind words and social media posts (of which I have received a fair amount already) for the hard work and dedication they have put in this season. I am looking forward to what 2022 brings and hope you can join us for the journey once more."
As a team our success sheet reads:
Tommy Bridewell 2nd in the British Superbike Championship
Josh Day 1st in the Ducati Performance TriOptions Cup (three-time back-to-back champion)
Carl Stevens 1st R&G Shield within the Ducati Cup
Ollie Walker 8th Honda British Talent Cup
Ryan Hitchcock 15th Honda British Talent Cup
Tommy Bridewell re-signs to remain with the Oxford Products Racing Ducati team for 2022
Tommy Bridewell and the Oxford Products Racing Ducati team are to continue their winning relationship into next year and will contest the 2022 Bennetts British Superbike Championship together for the fourth consecutive year.
Tommy Bridewell and the Oxford Products Racing Ducati team are to continue their winning relationship into next year and will contest the 2022 Bennetts British Superbike Championship together for the fourth consecutive year.
Tommy Bridewell: "I am obviously really happy to be staying with the Oxford Products Racing Ducati team for another year. For me it was a logical decision to continue next season, we are strong as a team and the Ducati is the all-round package. I feel that together we can fight for the championship,” said Bridewell.
I am really excited for the rest of this year, pre-season testing and looking ahead to 2022. It is nice to be in a position now where my contract is signed and I can really focus on the final two rounds of this year and continue going forwards."
Steve Moore: "I am really happy to announce that Tommy will be back with the Oxford Products Racing Ducati team next season. We have come a long way since we began working together.
What started as a few races has turned into a long-standing relationship, which is hard to come by. So far, we have celebrated race wins, podium finishes, and we are fighting for the championship, so I am excited to see what we can continue to accomplish as a team.
We can now look ahead to next season, but also importantly focus on this year’s title fight now without any distraction and that is important for all of us.
I also want to thank our title sponsor Oxford Products who continue their association with us along with many of our long-standing partners. This continuity in all areas of the team will only be a positive as we continue our ambition to achieve further success in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship."