Tommy Bridewell’s One-Fingered Salute to Rival Caught on Camera

Tommy Bridewell seemed to flip off former Ducati teammate Glenn Irwin after the BSB showdown finale at Brands Hatch, which he lost to Kyle Ryde.

Bridewell and Ryde put together one of the greatest title deciding battles in BSB history, but when congratulating his Yamaha rival, Bridewell did not show the same appreciation to Irwin when looking over to the Northern Irishman. 

Bridewell and Irwin were teammates at Ducati last season but the relationship between the pair has been frosty for some time. And that was evident when Irwin rocked up alongside Ryde to congratulate him as Bridewell did not want any part of Irwin’s congratulations.

Speaking after the race, Bridewell appeared to criticise Irwin when discussing his battle with Ryde, which he admitted was more respectful.

“I think in your career, with your racing, you analyse your competitors and your rivals as such - I just enjoy riding and racing with good, clean racers and Kyle is one of them,” Bridewell said.

“He’s a good kid, he’s got a great future ahead of him and honestly I can’t take away what he’s achieved because I’ve been in that position.

“I know the pressure and he was flawless, he was able to pass me down the back straight and not have to try to snap my handlebar off at 190 miles per hour - some of my other rivals quite clearly on TV weren’t able to do that because they didn’t want to!

“I’m proud with how I always respond - I don’t lose my head, I always find a solution, I always bounce back - and what a great race to be involved with.”

These comments came after Bridewell scrapped with Irwin at the start of race three and his former teammate even admitted that he wanted to help Ryde because he felt bad that Bridewell and current Honda Racing UK teammate Andrew Irwin were battling hard against the Yamaha rider.

Glenn Irwin said: “We started the race and clearly I could see what Andrew’s [Irwin] gameplan was: he was being a fantastic teammate to Tommy [Bridewell].

“It’s the beauty of having a teammate. I kind of felt bad for Kyle [Ryde]. Andrew was going so tight into the corners, he was stopping in every corner, and I thought ‘This is terrible’.

“Then I passed Kyle. I wanted him to not panic [about] me passing him; I knew we could get to the front, but I also knew my tyre would probably tear in this cool temperature.

“So, I got to the front, tried my best, thought about ‘Do we go and win this race, is this how this finishes for me,’ and realised that I was starting to have some moments. When Kyle went by I got into a scrap with Tommy, and I think a little bit of me became a bit of a wingman for Kyle.

“I could see how much Andrew was doing it, and there’s always a little bit of a casting eye to last year. I hold no resentment and have a lot of respect for Tommy, but after the incident at Donington Park and the statements on TV [...], it always sits deep within me.

“I believe things go round in circles, so I would never do anything out of the ordinary to anyone, but I really enjoyed the fight, did my bit, and then watched the guys have an amazing fight for the British Superbike Championship.”

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