Bridewell joins Valentine at Halsall Racing

Just over a week after parting company with the Bathams Honda team, Tommy Bridewell will now be seeing out the rest of the MCE British Superbike Championship season with the Halsall Racing squad.

The team, having their first season in BSB recently, announced the arrival of Jack Valentine, the former V&M, Foggy Petronas and Crescent Suzuki boss bringing his vast knowledge and expertise to the fledgling team and the addition of Bridewell is sure to boost their presence further.

“I’m genuinely really, really excited about joining up with the team and getting going on the Kawasaki, and if I could go racing tomorrow at Oulton, I’d be there!” said Bridewell.

“I feel like I’ve been riding well this season and I’m a lot happier with how things are at the moment. The team can offer a very competitive package so I’m buzzing right now and am confident I’ll be back to my old form very soon.”

Speculation that all was not well with Bridewell and the Bathams team first surfaced after the Knockhill round where he failed to finish either race and more weight was added to that after further technical problems were encountered at Snetterton leaving the Wiltshire rider with just a solitary 12th place to show for his efforts.

Sandwiched in between those two meetings was a wildcard appearance for the Team Lorini squad in the World Supersport round at Imola but rather than going down this route, Bridewell has expressed a desire to remain in BSB and will now campaign a ZX-10R along current team member Lee Costello at the remaining six rounds of the series.

“I had a really strong year in 2012 with the Supersonic BMW but just didn’t have the consistency on the Honda. We had a few technical issues and things just weren’t going for us so we decided to part company. It was genuinely amicable, I’m still friends with the team and wish them all the best.”

The Brands Hatch weekend also marked the sixth anniversary of the tragic death of Bridewell’s brother Ollie, who lost his life during a wet Mallory Park practice session in 2007.