Brands Hatch - BSB Round 6

On the anniversary of his brother's passing, Tommy Bridewell channelled the emotion of the day to earn himself a hard-fought second-place finish, and with it drew level on points with his championship rival Glenn Irwin at the top of the standings. Earlier in the day he had saved an enormous uncharacteristic rear wheel slide at the final corner, which ultimately cost him a front-row grid position. Needless to say, he was undeterred in his pursuit of a podium from his fifth-place qualifying position and made multiple decisive overtaking moves on his competitors. His sheer will and desire to perform was palpable and mastering the emotion of the occasion showcased the remarkable level at which he is performing. 

Teammate and fellow podium finisher Andrew Irwin rode a composed and mature ride from a frustrating qualifying position of eleventh through the pack to finish right on the rear wheel of his championship-winning Honda peer. His popular return to the fight at the front of the field cements his upturn in performance. This third-place finish marked his second rostrum visit of the year and moves him up to eleventh in the championship standings, mere points away from the top ten. 

It was not only towards the front of the field that Honda riders were excelling however, Dean Harrison, although frustrated not to score points in his first race, lapped the 2.4 mile circuit quicker than he ever has before. From a qualifying position of twenty-first, he fought hard through the field and was beaten by the smallest of margins at the line to finish in sixteenth. With a better grid slot in tomorrow's opening race however, the target is more. 

In the second BSB race of the day, Andrew’s impressive pace earlier in the day secured him a front row grid slot in third from which he rocketed away from the line and was up into second place for the early stages of the race. Tommy at this stage had to battle hard from fifth on the grid to get away with a quartet of riders fighting for second. Dean by this point had raced through into the points scoring positions after a strong start to the race. 

At half race distance, the Honda duo of Andrew and Tommy found themselves nose to toe in fourth and fifth as Iddon and Ryde ahead were beginning to break away. Cutting past his teammate Tommy sensed the duo ahead were stretching a lead and he upped his pace to follow. Personal best sectors and laps followed as Tommy joined a three-way scrap for second. But a repeat podium just wasn’t meant to be for Tommy who crossed the finish line in fourth. Andrew was not far behind in fifth and Dean slipped back from his points position late in the race to finish in nineteenth position. 

For Tommy, a pair of seconds and a fourth place finish lift him to the top of the championship standings with a lead of nineteen points whilst Andrew Irwin now occupies ninth position after his string of top six finishes continues.