22-year-old Bridewell from Etchilhampton near Devizes in Wiltshire endured constantly changing weather conditions during practice and qualifying but was in confident mood to repeat his fourth and sixth place finishes of earlier in the year at the Lincolnshire track as he qualified for the final stage of the Swan Combi Roll for Pole knockout qualifying to start race one from tenth place on the grid.

In front of another massive Cadwell crowd, Bridewell was soon dicing with half a dozen riders for the top ten leader board places and going into the last lap was set to challenge Kawasaki rider John Laverty. However, on the final corner, Tommy tried a pass which resulted in a collision with Laverty and saw him crash out as Bridewell crossed the line in ninth place but was later excluded from the results for his infraction.

Determined to make amends in the second 18-lap race, Bridewell got a good start on the ex-Gregorio Lavilla CBR1000RR Fireblade and climbed into the top ten to do away with the challenge, firstly of Laverty and secondly of fellow Ulsterman Alastair Seeley, before chasing factory Suzuki rider Yukio Kagayama to claim a fine eighth place at the flag.

Despite his mixed fortunes, Bridewell maintained his 11th position in the standings going into the next round at croft in two weeks' time.


Tommy Bridewell:

"To say I'm disappointed to have been excluded from race one is a massive understatement as I honestly went for a gap and was past John when we collided and I was lucky to stay on and he was unfortunate to crash out. I'm a racer and this is top class Superbike Championship racing and it's my job to get the best result I can as after all, if I was happy with tenth place, I maybe shouldn't be racing here. I'm just glad John was OK but disappointed with the way his team reacted but you just have to put these things behind you and move on. I was determined to put on a good show in race two and get a decent result for the team but that's the best I could do on the old girl."


Ian Woollacott, Team Owner:

"I've watched the replays of the collision between Tommy and John Laverty and I honestly think it was a typical racing incident so I don't agree with the decision to exclude him. We've been on the receiving end in the past but haven't bothered kicking up a fuss as I consider that as part of racing and if Tommy hadn't got the desire to get the best result possible, he shouldn't be out there. He bounced back well in race two and that put a smile back on the whole team's faces but you live and learn and we look forward to Croft and hopefully we can get a bit of good fortune to go our way for once."


MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship race 1 (18 laps)

1 Tommy Hill (Suzuki) 25m25.609s
2 Josh Brookes (Honda) +5.116s
3 Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) +7.092s
4 Michael Laverty (Suzuki) +12.522s
5 Michael Rutter (Ducati) +14.623s
6 James Ellison (Honda) +20.822s
7 Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) +28.158s
8 Alastair Seeley (Suzuki) +28.533s
9 Dan Linfoot (Yamaha) +34.523s
10 Stuart Easton (Honda) +34.945s
DQ Tommy Bridewell (Quay Garage Honda)


MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship race 2 (13 laps)

1 Josh Brookes (Honda) 19m00.530s
2 Tommy Hill (Suzuki) +0.230s
3 Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) +0.888s
4 Michael Laverty (Suzuki) +5.071s
5 Michael Rutter (Ducati) +11.719s
6 James Ellison (Honda) +13.178s
7 Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) +15.712s
8 Tommy Bridewell (Quay Garage Honda) +21.347s
9 Alastair Seeley (Suzuki) +24.287s
10 Gary Mason (Kawasaki) +27.446s


Championship standings (after 9 rounds)

1 Hill 287 points
2 Brookes 284
3 Kiyonari 281
4 Rutter 239
5 Michael Laverty 232
6 Seeley 168
7 John Laverty 147
8 Easton 128
9 Ellison 121
10 Walker 97
11 Bridewell 82