Pushing ahead on the first lap then holding firm out front brought Tommy Bridewell just his second win of the season in the sprint race in round eight of the British Superbike championship, at Cadwell Park.
Local rider Lee Jackson was sat on pole and lead out of the first corner, but Bridewell was keen to get ahead, taking over out front from second by the first timing sector. Jackson immediately fought back, a warning to Bridewell, who made sure he ended the first of the twelve laps in the lead.
From there the Honda UK rider held on out front, at some times looking like he was holding up the duo behind, but the #1 plate put in a defensive champions performance to stay out front all the way to the line.
- Update on Andrew Irwin after crash at Cadwell Park
- 2024 British Superbikes: Cadwell Park - Race Results (1)
| British Superbikes Round Eight - Cadwell Park - Race results (2) | ||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Time |
| 1 | Tommy Bridewell | GBR | Honda Racing UK (Honda) | 17m 23.051s |
| 2 | Kyle Ryde | GBR | OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing (Yamaha) | +0.219s |
| 3 | Lee Jackson | GBR | MasterMac Honda (Honda) | +0.242s |
| 4 | Charlie Nesbitt | GBR | MasterMac Honda (Honda) | +2.025s |
| 5 | Glenn Irwin | GBR | Hager PBM (Ducati) | +2.425s |
| 6 | Ryan Vickers | GBR | OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing (Yamaha) | +5.330s |
| 7 | Josh Brookes | AUS | FHO Racing BMW Motorrad(BMW) | +9.263s |
| 8 | Leon Haslam | GBR | ROKiT Haslam Racing BMW Motorrad(BMW) | +10.958s |
| 9 | Christian Iddon | GBR | Oxford Products Racing (Ducati) | +11.127s |
| 10 | Jason O'Halloran | AUS | Completely Motorbikes (Kawasaki) | +11.667s |
| 11 | Danny Buchan | GBR | DAO Racing (Kawasaki) | +11.851s |
| 12 | Billy McConnell | AUS | C&L Fairburn/ Look Forward Racing (Honda) | +12.573s |
| 13 | Storm Stacey | GBR | LKQ Euro Car Parts (Kawasaki) | +12.663s |
| 14 | Tom Ward | GBR | Rapid Honda (Honda) | +22.673s |
| 15 | Peter Hickman | GBR | FHO Racing BMW Motorrad(BMW) | +23.987s |
| 16 | Max Cook | GBR | Completely Motorbike(Kawasaki) | +24.472s |
| 17 | Bradley Perie | GBR | STAUFF Fluid Power (Kawasaki) | +29.396s |
| 18 | Lewis Rollo | GBR | IN Competition/SENCAT(Aprilia) | +30.060s |
| 19 | Richard Kerr | IRL | Cheshire Mouldings BMW Motorrad (BMW) | +33.684s |
| 20 | Luke Hedger | GBR | Whitecliffe CDH Racing(Kawasaki) | +34.362s |
| 21 | Brayden Elliott | AUS | DAO Racing(Kawasaki) | +34.642s |
| 22 | Brayden Elliott | AUS | DAO Racing(Kawasaki) | +49.500s |
| 23 | Alex Olsen | GBR | Cumins by Team IWR(Honda) | DNF |
| 24 | Danny Kent | GBR | McAMSRacing (Yamaha) | DNF |
| 25 | Andrew Irwin | GBR | Honda Racing UK (Honda) | DNS |
| 26 | Fraser Rogers | GBR | TAG Racing (Honda) | DNS |
Race one winner Kyle Ryde, topped warm-up, adapting to the sunnier conditions greeting the Lincolnshire track on Bank Holiday Monday. Lining up third he rode under Jackson on lap four, but also found himself retaken by the MasterMac Honda bike, with the #14 back behind Bridewell by lap eight.
The OMG Grilla Yamaha rider was back in front the same lap, but never lost the attentions of Jackson, making it hard to make a move for first without losing ground.
It was incredibly close in the run to the chequered flag for the pair, with Ryde second by 0.219s, earning him the ‘King of the Mountain’ special award - but just 0.023s ahead of Jackson, who completed the podium.
His teammate Charlie Nesbitt had another great run, with the fastest lap in the race - just short of the lap record. That will see him on pole for the final race at Cadwell Park, however the Honda rider has already been impressive from further down the grid.
This time out, after his rostrum visit in the first race, Nesbitt started fourth and held the same position by the race close, all while riding the older 2023 MasterMac bike after destroying the ‘24 model in a previous round.
Winner of the sprint race in 2023, Glenn Irwin had moved into fourth but ran wide on lap seven, handing the place back to Nesbitt, leaving the PBM Ducati man fifth.
Vickers stages massive comeback for sixth.
Ryan Vickers had a Sunday to forget. After a crash in qualifying saw him way down the grid, his day got worse with a technical issue causing a scary stop on track for the #7, leading to a DNF after a superb run of five wins out of six to bring him back into the title hunt.
Vickers rise through the pack from 20th on the grid was rapid - up to 18th on lap one, picking up another four places on just the second lap. It took just six laps for the OMG Grilla rider to reach the top ten.
The Yamaha rider's run thought he field came to a stop when he reached the front of the chasing group, am impressive sixth after picking up twelve places, and importantly doing so fast enough to earn a front row start for the final race.
An early error or issue for Josh Brookes saw him off line and out of shape, recovering back to seventh at the flag to be the best placed FHO Racing BMW Motorrad bike once again.
ROKiT Haslam BMW rider Leon Haslam was eighth, with a small gap back to Christian Iddon in ninth, making up places in the race only to drop back for Oxford Products late in the race.
Jason O’Halloran, was once again managing his damaged fingers and the pain barrier as he faded back to tenth for Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki, the highest placed rider for the manufacturer.
Danny Buchan finished eleventh, close behind the Australian for DAO Racing, with Billy McConnell picking up twelfth for local team C&L Fairburn/Look Forward Racing.
The remaining points went to Storm Stacey (LKQ Euro Car Parts Kawasaki) in 13th, top replacement rider Tom Ward (in for Franco Bourne at Rapid Honda) in 14th, with Peter Hickman 15th on the second FHO bike after picking up a two second penalty in the race for his move in front of Danny Kent, which was adjudicated to have had a part in Kent’s crash.
Lewis Rollo was again the top rider in the Pathway class, effectively handing him the Pathway championship when Alex Olsen pulled into the pits.
Official British Superbike Cadwell Park Records:
Lap record: Bradley Ray (Yamaha, 2022) 1m 25.858s
Cadwell Park in 2023:
Round Eight
Qualifying (superpole):
1: Ryan Vickers
2: Leon Haslam
3: Glenn Irwin
Race 1 (Sprint):
1: Glenn Irwin
2: Kyle Ryde
3: Ryan Vickers
Race 2:
1: Glenn Irwin
2: Kyle Ryde
3: Jason O’Halloran
Race 3:
1: Tommy Bridewell
2: Glenn Irwin
3: Leon Haslam
Crashes, Injuries and Replacements
There was only one crash, the fall of Kent, with Olsen pulling into pit lane.
Ward hit the points finishes again. Of the two other replacement riders at Cadwell Park, Bradley Perie in for Stauff Fluid Power Kawasaki, replacing Tom Neave placed higher in 17th, with Richard Kerr, back in again for Rory Skinner at Cheshire Mouldings BMW, 19th.
Fraser Rogers withdrew earlier in the weekend after not feeling 100 percent.
Andrew Irwin skipped qualifying and race one after his FP3 crash. The Honda rider was assessed again before morning warm-up and will take no further part in the race weekend.
Championship Standings
The top two in the championship was echoed by the race result, allowing Bridewell to extend his lead over Ryde by a further two points, with a total of 278, with Ryde on 257 - 21 points behind.
Glenn Irwin moves back to third overall 0n 223, with fellow Ducati rider Iddon on the same points but fourth on countback of results.
Ryan Vickers is fifth on 208, with another DNF for Kent seeing him drift further out of contention, now a huge 98 points away from Bridewell’s lead total.
