Bridewell and Bennetts Suzuki on Brands Hatch pole

Tommy Bridewell and the Bennetts Suzuki team will start the opening race of the British Superbike season finale from pole position, after setting the fastest time in tricky qualifying conditions.

After setting the fourth fastest time in the day’s free practice session, Bridewell progressed from the opening qualifying session in a safe ninth place, before advancing from Q2 with the fourth fastest time as drops of rain began to fall.

With conditions unpredictable, Bridewell headed out of pit lane early to assess track conditions, before returning to the Bennetts Suzuki garage for a quick pit stop and a switch to full wet tyres. He ventured back out onto the circuit to post the fastest time of the short Q3 session, and will start from pole position for this afternoon’s opening race of the weekend.

Tommy Bridewell, “To be honest I didn't expect it to be that wet in Q3 and thought we could do the session on slicks, but when I came in I sort of shouted for wets and the guys did a mega job with a real quick change to get me back out there, and it's great to be on pole. The bike's been getting better all weekend, we struggled a little just to fine-tune it, but I'm happy with the times we can run, in all conditions too. But I'm hoping it'll be dry for the race and I'm looking forward to it.”

Team owner, Martin Halsall, “That pole position was a real team effort. We’ve been improving all weekend with the bike, and with conditions the way they were in Q3, we got Tommy out on track nice and early, and the team did a good job of the quick wheel changes when he came back in. We’re confident now that, whatever the conditions in race two, we can have a good go for the podium and hopefully the win.”