July 9, 2023

Treble Top For Brilliant Bridewell At Snetterton

BeerMonster Ducati rider Tommy Bridewell was in scintillating form at round five of the 2023 Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Snetterton with a hat-trick of victories increasing his advantage at the top of the table as he left the Norfolk track unbeaten.

The Wiltshire ace followed up his BikeSocial Sprint race win yesterday with a superb double victory today to extend his championship lead to 25 points over teammate Glenn Irwin, who took second and fourth place finishes today to make it 20 podiums for the team after the first five rounds.
 
Bridewell and Irwin lined up in first and third respectively for the opening 16-lap race today, but a red flag brought the race to a premature halt on just the seventh lap, and it was restarted over eight laps.

Tommy slotted into third with Glenn in fifth on the opening lap of the restart and a lap later, Bridewell was up to second on the F23-specification BeerMonster V4R Ducati before on lap three, he was in the lead after overhauling the fast-starting Josh Brookes. From there, he never looked back and increased his lead on each lap, eventually taking the chequered flag by 1.6 seconds from Brookes for his second win of the weekend. 
 
Ulsterman Irwin had a more eventful race, dropping back to sixth at one point, and it looked as if fifth was the best he could hope for. However, he dug deep and on the final lap moved ahead of Jason O’Halloran to take his second fourth position of the weekend.
 
The final race went over the full 16-lap distance and saw both Tommy and Glenn dispute the lead with Brookes, Leon Haslam, and Ryan Vickers. Positions changed throughout but when Brookes went out, Irwin took over in front with Bridewell moving up to second with three laps to go.
 
Tommy then took over the lead and ultimately held on although it was mightily close with his eventual margin of victory over Glenn just 0.032 seconds as they flashed across the line at the end of the hard-fought race. 
 
It was Bridewell’s first ever multiple win in the series and the third 1-2 for Paul Bird’s Lake District-based team this season as his riders remained first and second in the title race heading to the next round at Brands Hatch in a fortnight.
 
Tommy Bridewell: “What can I say!? It’s been a great weekend and these types of meetings don’t come around too often, so I’m delighted to take my first ever treble. We’ve hardly changed the bike all weekend and the team absolutely hit the nail on the head with set-up so a huge thanks to them. It was nice to go toe to toe with Glenn in the final race with neither of us willing to give an inch, but it was good, clean racing. I focused on preserving the tyre in the early stages and we exchanged places on more than one occasion, so it was nice to come out on top and get the job done.”
 
Glenn Irwin: “We could have come away with three second place finishes this weekend but have had to settle for a second and two fourths, so it hurt us in the points although we’ve managed to consolidate second in the standings. I lost time in the first race battling with Jason and it would have been better if we’d have worked together but I was finally able to take a podium in the final race. I stayed patient when Josh was leading and when he went out, I tried to keep a little in reserve but when Tommy came by, I wanted to get back into the lead straight away. It was a good battle with Tommy so hats off to him; I never gave up and am happy with the result.”
 
Johnny Mowatt, Team Coordinator: “It’s been a fantastic weekend and to be sitting here with both Tommy and Glenn on four wins apiece and with 20 podiums in total is phenomenal. Tommy’s been a revelation this weekend; we sat down before we got here and spoke about only having one win so far this season and now was the time to kick on and make his championship challenge. It’s fair to say he’s done exactly that and sent out a message to the rest of the field. From Glenn’s perspective, he was unlucky not have been on the podium in all three races and he got caught in some silly battles in the first race today, which upset his rhythm. We made some small changes to the bike for the final race, and he was able to fight at the front, the end result being another 1-2 for the team. Both riders are giving everything so we’ll look forward to Brands Hatch now, which should be another strong circuit for us.”


Bennetts British Superbike Championship race two (8 laps)

1 Tommy Bridewell (BeerMonster Ducati)
2 Josh Brookes (BMW)
3 Leon Haslam (BMW)
4 Glenn Irwin (BeerMonster Ducati)
5 Jason O’Halloran (Yamaha)
6 Danny Kent (Honda)


Bennetts British Superbike Championship race three (16 laps)

1 Tommy Bridewell (BeerMonster Ducati)
2 Glenn Irwin (BeerMonster Ducati)
3 Leon Haslam (BMW)
4 Ryan Vickers (Yamaha)
5 Christian Iddon (Ducati)
6 Jason O’Halloran (Yamaha)


Championship Positions (after five rounds)

1 Bridewell 217pts
2 Irwin 192
3 Ryde 171
4 Brookes 168
5 Haslam 164
6 O’Halloran 133
 
 
Pictures courtesy of Double Red: Glenn Irwin (2) and Tommy Bridewell (46) 

IRWIN AND HAGER PBM DUCATI WRAP-UP SUCCESSFUL TESTING PROGRAMME

April 24, 2025
THE Hager PBM Ducati team and rider Glenn Irwin have completed another successful R&G Official test at Oulton Park, with the opening round of the 2025 Bennetts British Superbike Championship now just over a week away. Irwin and the team have spent the last two days at the Cheshire track, grabbing as much track time as possible in the final days on track before the season begins. After ending last weekend’s Donington Park test on top, the team was keen to continue to push in the final two days, working through a busy schedule and trying a host of new components and ideas. Irwin ended the test second quickest overall after clocking the best lap of Thursday afternoon’s final session, banking a 1min 33.313s lap on his last run. He leaves feeling confident about next weekend’s opening round and can’t wait to get back out. Glenn Irwin: “That’s us finished pre-season testing and I’m feeling good. We’ve been working, working, working and the bike felt better today but we still have a bit of work to do. “It’s been really, really enjoyable, we’ve tried a number of different things and I think now we’re finding a bit of a balance. Today we unlocked something in that middle session, I did a good few 33s in that run so I think we’re strong. “It’s definitely been very productive. We haven’t gone for lap times, we’ve been focussed on getting the bike right and when that happens, the lap times come. That’s what we’re starting to see and I think we’re in a good place to come back next week and start the season.” Frank Bird Jnr, Team Co-owner: “It’s a mega way to finish, this puts us in really good stead for the season and we’ve got a lot of boxes ticked off with the bike. All the boys are working well, we’ve got everyone back into the swing of things and Glenn seems to be riding well, so we’re in a good window for the first round. “It’s been a long winter but all the hard work seems to be paying off and we’re right in the mix. It means we can come here for Round One and we’re in a great place to start from.” The opening round of the 2025 Bennetts British Superbike Championship roars into action at Oulton Park over the May Bank Holiday weekend, May 3-5.

IRWIN AND HAGER PBM DUCATI END SUCCESSFUL SECOND TEST ON TOP

April 19, 2025
THE Hager PBM Ducati team continued its strong testing form at Donington Park as rider Glenn Irwin once again ended the two days fastest overall. Although the team is still not concentrating on lap times, Irwin picked up where he left off at Circuito de Navarra earlier this month as he led the way on Friday before going even quicker on Day Two with an impressive fastest lap of 1min 27.015s in the final session. After a strong first test where he topped the timesheets at Navarra, the team headed to the second R&G Official test at Donington Park looking to work on a number of different things. Irwin was consistently quick across the opening day, ending Friday fastest overall with a 1:27.022sec lap in the final session to end the day at the top of the timesheets with what was the fastest ever BSB lap of the iconic track. Along with most of the pack, he opted to sit out of Saturday morning’s first session due to track conditions, heading out for the second to work through a few more things. He again shot to the top of the timesheets with a lap of 1:27.468, before later going one better in the final session to clock his new fastest ever lap. Glenn Irwin: “It’s been really good, like Navarra, we’ve continued with a plan. Yesterday we had a really, really strong bike here and conditions were a little better. Today conditions were tougher with the wind but everyone still finds a way to go fast. “We probably persevered with a bike which is suited to the final sector, perhaps Turn One as well. As the day went on I realised we were losing a bit in some places but we stuck with it. “It’s pleasing because I would say that isn’t the bike of choice for here, perhaps maybe yesterday's bike was better, but to top today feeling like that, to do a lot of laps in the 27s with improved pace on old tyres is good. The test has definitely been a success.” John Mowatt, Team Co-ordinator: “I think it’s been a positive test where we’ve confirmed a number of test items over the two days. We had slightly better conditions yesterday than today but I think we’ve ticked a lot of boxes, gone fairly quick so it’s all positive – roll on Oulton Park. “The plan there is more of the same, just keep trying to understand the new tyre, try and work with it. I think longevity is going to be the key now for Oulton Park, we’ll do a couple of race runs, see how the tyre lasts and then get ready for Round One.” The team will now prepare for the final test at Oulton Park next Wednesday and Thursday, April 23 and 24 which will be the last chance to get everything ready ahead of the first round of the 2025 season at Oulton Park over the May Bank Holiday weekend.
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