Tommy Bridewell heads into the third round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Donington Park with confidence high following his first podium finish with Honda Racing UK last time out at Oulton Park.
Bridewell was embroiled in the podium fight in race two in Cheshire, achieving his first podium finish with the Honda Racing UK team with a strong second place as he continues his title defence, despite still being in the early stages of the development cycle of the new Honda Fireblade.
Bridewell said: “I think really for me in truth, the first two rounds have been a lot more promising than perhaps we anticipated with having a brand new bike. Yes, we’ve had some teething issues, but our actual pace over race distance over the shorter race and over practice sessions has been really strong. We’ve always, every single session, been in the top four or five area consistently.
“For me, Navarra was a bigger surprise. We had a few issues there, but obviously Oulton Park was a circuit that I know well and that I go really well at. It was nice to get my first podium of the year and the first podium for Honda in a really long time. We had some slight limitations at Oulton Park, but we got absolutely every ounce out of the bike, which is the main thing.
“Going into this weekend, it seems that the bike works very well at Donington Park. At the test, before the season had started, we had high winds and we were just working on feeling when we were there. It was my first ever time on the bike, but with the wind and everything against us, we were still up at the sharp end, in the top six, top seven somewhere.
“I think since the Donington Park test we’ve made some improvements with my feeling with the Honda and understanding the bike, and we’ve made some steps with electronics which is good. I think fundamentally for this weekend we should have a step with the engine from Oulton Park. We’ll hopefully have a little more power and we have just got to keep building.
“This time of the year for me is all about consolidating and building points on the board - just keep putting points on the board! We’re in a good position and that’s what we’ve got to build on.”