Brands Hatch - Round 5

It was a very positive weekend for the Oxford Products Racing Ducati Team and Tommy Bridewell. Tommy gained two podium places and a solid fifth place and currently sits in seventh in the overall Championship standings, a vital Showdown spot as it stands.

Everyone within the team has been working extremely hard to ensure Brands was a successful weekend and that hard work paid off! The conditions were mixed on Friday, but Tommy was straight through to Q2 with an eighth place in the combined practice times.

The rest of the weekend was sunny and dry, Tommy qualified in fourth place for the opening race on Saturday afternoon. He got a steady start and dropped back through the pack, but he worked hard and as always was able to fight his way back through the field and secured a fantastic third place. His lap times were consistently fast throughout, and all the leaders were setting a good pace on every single lap.

For race two Tommy started from the front row in second place and once again he dropped back slightly but he was in a close battle in the first half of the race for the lead, the leaders pulled a small gap, but Tommy was able to gain another solid podium finish in third.

Fifth on the grid for race three, the team made a few changes between races but maybe not in the direction they had hoped for, he was able to finish in a very encouraging fifth place and a really strong weekend and some very good Championship points.

Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati #46)
Race 1, 3rd - Race 2, 3rd - Race 3, 5th
“It was a good weekend; the main target was a good strong points haul. It’s nice to be back challenging where I expect to be every weekend. It was a very positive weekend and I hope now we can build on it and take this momentum for the rest of the season. We went the wrong direction with the bike in race three, but if we don’t try these things we don’t know, and I still managed to get a fifth place!

We will certainly take two podiums and a fifth and we will analyse everything over the next two weeks before the next round and see where we can improve. I look forward to getting to Thruxton.”

Iain Hopcroft, Team Manager
“It was a superb weekend for Tommy and the Oxford Products Ducati Racing Team. Brilliant to get some strong points in the bag with some great riding from Tommy. Now we are in a good position within the Showdown top eight and we can focus our attention to Thruxton and the rest of the season.”