Tommy Bridewell claimed his second win in the 2023 Bennetts British Superbike Championship as the BeerMonster Ducati rider emerged on top following a last lap scrap for supremacy at Snetterton as three different teams and manufacturers vied for victory.
After an intense twelve-lap battle, it came down to the final lap in the BikeSocial Sprint Race with Glenn Irwin leading the pack ahead of Bridewell, Josh Brookes and Jason O’Halloran. However, the fight would go all the way to the chequered flag as Bridewell dived ahead at Nelsons to put himself ahead of his BeerMonster Ducati teammate for the lead.
Irwin was looking to strike back, but he also had Brookes for company and the FHO Racing BMW Motorrad Team rider went for a last corner move on the brakes into Murrays and that gave the Australian the edge for second place.
It was then a drag to the line for third place and the final podium position and O’Halloran managed to get a better exit on the McAMS Yamaha from Murrays, and he was able to hold off Irwin to the finish to relegate him to fourth by just 0.056s.
O’Halloran had taken the initial lead at the start, but Irwin had taken the advantage on the opening lap. However, by lap seven Bridewell had moved ahead and then it was a battle of the teammates until Brookes and O’Halloran closed the advantage in the final laps.
Christian Iddon equalled his best result of the season after fighting to fifth, breaking the chasing pack of Danny Kent who returned to the top six and Lee Jackson on the Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki.
Jack Kennedy battled with Charlie Nesbitt to take eighth with Tito Rabat embroiled in the fight at the front in the early stages of the race, holding a top ten finish on his debut with the McAMS Yamaha team.
It was a tough opening race for the LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha team with local contender Ryan Vickers retiring from the race and Kyle Ryde finishing in 13th. Meanwhile Honda Racing UK’s rookie Franco Bourne finished in 19th on his Bennetts BSB debut.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Snetterton, BikeSocial Sprint Race:
- Tommy Bridewell (BeerMonster Ducati)
- Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad) +0.679s
- Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +1.136s
- Glenn Irwin (BeerMonster Ducati) +1.192s
- Christian Iddon, Oxford Products Racing Ducati, +4.607s
- Danny Kent (Lovell Kent Racing Honda) +9.646s
- Lee Jackson (Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki) +10.828s
- Jack Kennedy (Mar-Train Racing Yamaha) +11.694s
- Charlie Nesbitt (MasterMac Honda by Hawk Racing) +12.534s
- Tito Rabat (McAMS Yamaha) +12.936s
Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings:
- Tommy Bridewell (BeerMonster Ducati) 181
- Glenn Irwin (BeerMonster Ducati) 164
- Kyle Ryde (LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha) 158
- Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad) 152
- Leon Haslam (ROKiT BMW Motorrad Team) 136
- Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) 112
- Lee Jackson (Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki) 106
- Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) 89
- Ryan Vickers (LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha) 85
- Jack Kennedy (Mar-Train Racing Yamaha) 69
Tommy Bridewell
BeerMonster Ducati
“It was a tough race, it was harder than I wanted it to be and harder than I expected! I just felt really nervous on the grid because I knew I had race winning pace and I expected myself to win. With that comes anxiousness, nervousness, you want to win by 10 seconds, all the usual.
“My start really really made that race so much harder than it needed to be. The ideal scenario was a nice clean start, get away at the front, conserve a bit of energy, save my tyre, and off I go at the end. That was the plan and it worked out the opposite. So I just had to work hard, I knew I could make passes, but I didn’t know where I could. I rode on my own all weekend so I didn’t know where I was fast or slow compared to other riders!
“Coming onto the last lap I said to myself ‘let’s go toe to toe, same bike, same team, may the best man win.’ I just got a good run on him onto the back straight, I could see on my board that Josh was right behind me, plus zero, and Jason was there as well. So it was a battle not just for the race win but obviously you could finish first or fourth. So I knew I had to pass Glenn, I was more thinking about lunging him in the last corner.
“I got the run and I was like ‘you know what let’s just go now, it’s hard to pass in that last sector, so let’s just do it now.’ And that’s what I did, good run out, good run through the Bomb Hole, round through Coram and then I defended into the left because I also knew once the Ducati does pick its feet up and go there’s not much that’s gonna outdrag it to the line. So credit to the team, I’ve won many a race, but I’ve never won here at Snett, so it’s nice. I really worked hard for that and I felt like I rode a really good strong race so I’m chuffed to bits.”
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