TOMMY BRIDEWELL saw his hopes of getting his Italian Superstock Championship campaign off to a good start interrupted when rain washed out the Misano race yesterday.
The 20-year-old from Wiltshire is contesting the series for the Lorenzini by Leoni team alongside the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup this season and was hoping to get some more valuable track time on the brand new Yamaha R1.
However, the handling problems that plagued the team in Valencia a couple of weeks ago returned and Bridewell struggled during qualifying in the dry, but with wet weather forecast for race day, he was hopeful of a good result.
But it wasn't to be as after a wet start, it dried up and some support races were run but a cloudburst just before Tom was due to go out saw the track drenched and after a few riders did exploratory laps at the request of the organisers, it was deemed unfit to race on so as a result, the race was postponed. "We had some fairly major handling issues again which the team are trying their hardest to resolve as we just can't put our finger on it. I was at the point of grinding the engine casings but in the morning warm up in the wet, it felt a lot better. Obviously I'm disappointed to come to Italy and not get a race but we need to get the bike sorted and one option for Assen next weekend is to build a completely new bike for me which the team are looking at" said Tom.
The Dutch track will host the second round of the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup and Bridewell is hoping to improve on his 13th place finish in the opening round in Spain when it gets underway at 10.40 (GMT) on Sunday.
