Snetterton: Round 7
It was an extremely successful weekend for Tommy Bridewell and the Oxford Products Racing Ducati team at Snetterton Circuit. Tommy secured another hat-trick of podiums with two seconds and a third place.
It was a steady start to the weekend during practice and qualifying and Tommy was only able to qualify the Ducati in 10th place. Tommy got a steady start but lost several places into turns one and two and was 14th after the opening lap. However, he was not prepared to settle for that and rode through the fierce pack and up to a podium position. He was then involved in an epic drag to the line, just clinching second place. He was 0.069 off the win and Jason O Halloran was just 0.026 behind Tommy in third!
With his amazing pace in the opening race, Tommy was fast enough to put it on pole position for the second race of the weekend. He dropped back to fourth but was once again fighting for a podium place and the top three gapped the chasing riders by two seconds. Tommy took a strong third place.
Again for the final race of the weekend he was placed on the front row in third. He got a good start and looked strong at the front being chased hard again by the Yamahas. The race was red flagged due to an oil spillage caused by the BMW and re-started as a five lap dash. Tommy started on pole, got a good start and had a real fight with Tarran Mackenzie for the short race. He pushed hard and took another second place and secured his spot in the showdown.
Tommy – “It was a good weekend. It was a great performance from the team; I didn’t feel comfortable on the bike on Friday and didn’t know where we were with the pace. We kept plugging away through every session to make changes to improve the bike.
We worked on our weak areas and it was better every session even a quick change in the last sprint race. We got the bike handling really well which really helped in all three races. We have just a few areas we need to work on for edge grip.
We’re confirmed for the showdown now, which is a relief but we will also be using Silverstone as a test for the bike and getting it perfect for the Showdown races. I will be going there to win also and I’m looking forward to getting there next week!”
Ducati Cup
Josh day continues his streak of Pole positions and made plans for the race knowing Elliot Pinson would be hot on his heels, he is a much wiser rider and let Elliot lead the race and overtook him on the last turn clinching race 1 victory.
Race 2 was similar but he wanted to be out in front a little earlier and control the pace, Elliot was pushing hard behind and made a last lap move but Josh came back to drag him over the line securing another 1st place for the team.
This leaves him 63 points clear of second place rider Chris Walker with three rounds (6 races) to go.
Moto3
Ollie Walker made good progress after his crash at Silver GP last weekend and found himself 5th on the grid for race 1. He battled with two other riders for 2nd place and made a move on the last lap but saw him crash out at turn 2 on the last lap.
He started 4th for race two on Sunday and got run wide on and pushed him back to outside the top ten, he fought back and recovered to 8th place. Ollie is now 7th in the Championship with only two rounds remaining.