Donington Park: Round 10
It was a mixed weekend for Tommy Bridewell and the Oxford Products Ducati Racing team at the penultimate round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Donington Park. Heading into October, weather was always going to become a factor to the series. Tommy crashed out of wet race one then secured a seventh and fourth in the final two races.
It was cold and wet the majority of the weekend and this played havoc with tyre choices and set-up. Tommy was able to qualify on the second row in sixth for the opening race on Saturday. The weather conditions were horrendous for race one and Donington is renowned for being like an ice-rink once wet. He got a good start and looked settled in second place when he just touched the brakes and down he went, crashing out.
After the disappointment of Saturday Tommy was keen to make amends on the Sunday. The weather once again was cold so Tommy and the team opted for the harder SC0 tyre, sadly this did not work with the Ducati as they had hoped, he started from fifth but just could not get the heat and grip in the tyres that he wanted and finished in seventh place.
He started race three from ninth and as they sat on the grid the heavens opened again and soaked everything, a delayed start enabled the team to make some changes, find a problem they did not know they had and start again, wet race declared. After the previous day Tommy was extremely cautious for the entire race and it was a battle to bring the Ducati home in one piece, he was able to secure a strong fourth position.
It is still all to play for at the final round at Brands Hatch with three races and 75-points up for grabs! There are only 21 points now separating the top four in the series and as Oulton and Donington have proved, anything can happen. We will be fighting hard to the end.
Tommy Bridewell: “The weekend was full of mixed emotions; there is a lot at stake. It was a tough weekend with the weather which we knew would play a part in the final rounds. I think it’s obvious to see that Donington is dangerous in the wet, I did absolutely nothing wrong, I did exactly the same as what I did all weekend and it took me out of second place. 20 points would have seen me second in the Championship and now we are 21 points behind. It was a massive dent to crash out of the race.
In the dry I just didn’t have the feeling with the bike that I really wanted due to limited track time in the dry conditions. We made some good changes for the final dry race of the weekend but then it rained really heavily.
I didn’t have the pace to match the top three, I knew I was safe in fourth, it wasn’t a race it was more like survival of the slowest! It is all still the play for, Brands has always been good for us, the bike is phenomenal there and I hope we can be back challenging for wins there.”
Iain Hopcroft: ”Tommy rode so well all weekend and is thinking about the championship, we came away from Donington with an amazing opportunity to Win this championship!! Roll on Brands Hatch in a couple of weeks!”
Moto3
it was to see the return of Ryan Hitchcock who had crashed at Thruxton earlier in the season and broken his arm, being the last round of the season he used the time to settle back into riding and prepare himself for some winter testing and the 2022 season.
Ollie Walker had some great practice sessions and even qualified 5th for the race but unfortunately crashed out of the session breaking his arm and some ribs, like a champ he stayed on to watch his team mates before heading to hospital back in Bristol where he undergoes surgery today.