Tommy Bridewell back on podium after giving Honda “a bit of an ear-aching”
Tommy Bridewell made his way to a podium finish for the first time this season at Snetterton, thanks to improvements to his Honda set-up ahead of round three.
After qualifying a much improved fourth, Tommy Bridewell was able to fight into the podium places for the first time in 2025 as the British Superbikes season resumed at Snetterton.
The elevated grid position allowed the Honda Racing UK rider a chance to fight for the final podium spot after finding himself one of several riders whose machinery and riding style were not a good match for the new 22025 tyres, Bridewell explained:
“Qualifying was strong for us and it makes life a lot easier, we’ve worked in a different window this weekend and honestly the bike is working a lot better.
We’re still missing a little bit for sure and ultimately these two guys are riding great, so we’re a little bit behind still, but honestly I’m happy with the progress that we’ve made.”
- 2025 British Superbikes: Snetterton - Race Results (1)
- 2025 British Superbikes: Snetterton - Qualifying Results
Though he could not match the pace of either Kyle Ryde or race winner Bradley Ray ahead, he had enough improvement to be able to challenge Rory Skinner successfully for fourth before he exited the race with a technical issue. The former BSB champion took part credit for this, explaining after the race that he has been giving Honda a push in the right direction verbally to see results:
“With Honda, as you can probably all imagine I’ve given a bit of an ear-aching and a bit of stick over the last couple of rounds and been working hard - been working really hard - trying to understand where, why we can’t make this new tyre work.
I’ve got to be happy - podiums in this field at the moment is no mean feat - we’ve just got to keep chipping away and I’m sure we’ll slowly close the gap”.
Podiums have been hard to come by with Ray featuring in all six so far - five as wins, with Skinner, Josh Brookes, Leon Haslam, Glenn Irwin and Kyle Ryde the only other riders to get a sniff of the rostrum so far in 2025.
The #46 revealed the biggest change to his Honda has been the ability to stop with greater ease, allowing him to run the lines he wants at last and challenge for the top three slots, something not possible over the opening two rounds of the season, Bridewell added:
“Stopping the bike for me the first couple of rounds, just absolutely impossible to stop the bike because I just got no rear grip, so when I break my engine break doesn’t work, so it’s made it hard. We’ve got a lot more rear grip now for sure, so I’m happy.”
