Bridwell’s Ducati plan
The PBM dream team may have their work cut out in 2019
ommy Bridewell will race Ducati’s new V4 R for the new-look Oxford Racing Ducati squad in the 2019 Bennetts British Superbike championship. After a stellar end to 2018 that saw Bridewell on the podium four times in the final seven races to clinch the Riders’ Cup for the best-placed non-showdown rider, the Devizes ace will remain with Steve ‘Wilf’ Moore’s Moto Rapido squad as they re-branded having secured a new title sponsorship deal with Oxford Products.
“I was at a point in the middle of this year where it looked as though my career was dead,” Bridewell told MCN. “I had been sacked by Halsall Racing and last year wasn’t great either, but luckily Wilf at Moto Rapido gave me a chance and everything just clicked for us. The team work in a very similar way to me: we give 100% and wear our hearts on our sleeve.
“To stay with them next
Tyear puts me in one of the best positions I’ve ever been in to fight at the front in BSB. I believe I have the best guys in my corner to get Ducati’s new V4 working on the MoTeC BSB electronics. Wilf is so clever with all that, he’s already been working on it for a month or so which is great as that will definitely be our biggest challenge with the new bike.” Last week Ducati unveiled the 234bhp V4 R, a machine Bridewell can’t wait to get his hands on. “You’ve only got to look at the bike to get excited,” he said. “There cannot be one rider out there who doesn’t look at that Ducati and think ‘F***, we’re going to have our hands full with that bike’. There is no expense spared and I think it will genuinely win worldwide.” And after often finding himself the highest ranked Ducati towards the end of last year, Bridewell has big aspirations as he goes into his first full season with the team. He has his sights set firmly on the PBM Be Wiser Ducati dream team of Josh Brookes and Scott Redding. “My goal next year is to win the championship, and I know that might sound a little bit out there after my last few seasons but I honestly believe I can. Haslam and Dixon are gone and they were the only two guys I felt I couldn’t beat this year.
“I won’t lie, I do thrive on the idea of beating the official team on a satellite bike. I did it a lot last year and I think we can do it again next year. It might take us a few rounds to get the bike working, but once we’re up and running I think the biggest threat will be Brookes. When things work for him he’s so bloody strong but I’m going to try and beat him and Redding to show them that there’s no reason Moto Rapido cannot be the top Ducati.”
‘I thrive on the idea of beating the official team on a satellite bike’