Bridewell scores first BSB win since 2015; Hickman books Showdown spot

Tommy Bridewell is celebrating his first British Superbike Championship victory for more than four years after taking the spoils in the final race of the weekend at Oulton Park, while Tarran Mackenzie and Peter Hickman officially booked their places in the upcoming Title Showdown.

The Oxford Racing Ducati rider was there to capitalise on a crash from the lead for Josh Brookes, the erstwhile championship leader falling at the hairpin having opened up a sizeable lead prior to that.

With Bridewell getting a move done on Bradley Ray just a few turns later to snatch the newly-available lead, the experienced rider wasted no time in putting a margin between himself and the Suzuki rider, which he’d hold to the chequered flag.

The win marks a long-awaited return to the head of the podium for Bridewell, who despite mounting an impressive title challenge in 2019 with the Ducati customer team, hasn’t actually won a race since 2015 when he triumphed at Oulton Park.

Indeed, in that time – 115 races to be exact - Bridewell has amassed 19 podiums without once topping it. The result marks the third of his career and the first for the Moto Rapido-run outfit.

Behind him, Ray completed an immensely successful weekend with his second podium on the Buildbase Suzuki, while race two winner Redding settled for podium credits in third place.

Mackenzie, Hickman hold nerve to secure Title Showdown place

Danny Buchan toasted his run to the Title Showdown in fourth place, where he will be joined by Mackenzie and Hickman, who formally booked their spots in the six-way championship fight by holding their nerve in a tense final race.

Though Mackenzie was all-but-guaranteed for McAMS Yamaha, the sixth and final spot remained very much up for grabs between Hickman, Andrew Irwin, Xavi Fores and Christian Iddon, the quartet coming into the race only eight points apart.

Iddon battled hard early on in sixth place before mechanical problems slowed him down, where he was nearly collected by the unsighted Irwin. Making brief contact – ripping the exhaust off the BMW and causing the Honda man to wobble at high-speed - the pair were lucky to come away without having suffered a more major accident.

Gallingly for Irwin, he fought back to tenth from the back of the grid on a weekend that saw him fail to score in race one or two, yet still just fall short of the points he needed to get into the Showdown in his first full season of Superbikes.

By contrast, it was a great result for Hickman – who was seventh coming into the weekend – as he yet again as he squeezed through for third year running on the Smiths BMW.