WHAT AN OMG MOMENT!
You couldn’t have scripted it. After 11 rounds, 32 races and visits to three different countries, it all came down to the last scrap of the season.
At stake was the 2024 Bennetts British Superbike championship and after a dramatic year where four Evotech Performance-supported riders had initially been in the fight, by the last day of term, there were just two left in the battle.
In the red corner sat Tommy Bridewell, the defending champion who had left PBM, the team which powered him to title glory a year earlier, for Honda in a shock move last winter.
Despite many saying his hopes of winning were slim to none this year, Bridewell had enjoyed a staggeringly impressive season and had been in the title fight most of the year as he banked consistent results to pick up points almost every stop of the way.
In the blue corner was OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing’s Kyle Ryde, a younger rider with far less BSB experience and a completely different character to Bridewell – but certainly no stranger to success.
Ryde had burst onto the UK racing scene in 2011, storming to title glory in the then British 125 series before claiming the National Junior Superstock crown in 2014, adding the British GP2 title to his name in 2019 before making his BSB full season debut in 2020.
Could the youngster really see off the defending champion at the last call, or would Bridewell’s hard talking on and off the track be too much for him to topple?
It turns out that yes, he could – but not until he’d proved his worth and played his part in giving the BSB fans two of the most exciting races of the last few years.
Before the weekend began, another Evotech Performance-supported rider, Glenn Irwin, had been in with an outside chance of title glory for the Hager PBM Ducati team, but his hopes went out of the window with a huge crash on Saturday and it had been Ryde who had carried the small advantage of just one point into Sunday.
However, the pendulum swung in Bridewell’s direction after Sunday’s opening 12-lap scrap. Ryde’s team-mate Ryan Vickers – who had been a main player in the championship all summer long – got out into the front at the start but was unable to keep the two title challengers behind him for long.
In their fight to reach the flag first, Bridewell and Ryde swapped positions lap after lap but in the closing stages, Bridewell was just able to edge enough of a gap at the front to take victory by 0.257secs.
This gave the defending champ a four point advantage going into the final, winner-takes-all battle later that afternoon, as he headed the grid with Ryde alongside him.
Ryde dropped back to fourth at the start as Bridewell hit the front, giving him a bit of work to do as he fought his way past Irwin brothers Andrew and then Glenn before catching his rival. The battle raged as the pair jostled for position, Ryde making numerous moves to the front, only to be passed back almost instantly by Bridewell and it all came down to the final lap.
Ryde managed to get ahead at Hawthorn and defended hard. This time, Bridewell couldn’t get straight back past and time – and corners – were running out quickly. Seconds later they rounded Clearways for the final time and Bridewell was just unable to bridge the gap in the final drag to the line. Ryde won by just 0.296secs to take his first BSB title.
For the team at Evotech Performance, it’s been an incredible season. Our supported teams and riders have dominated the whole year.
Champion Ryde has taken nine victories, Bridewell thee, Irwin, who finished third, has won eight and Vickers, during that roll in the summer, has banked seven.
Meanwhile, Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki’s Jason O’Halloran and Rory Skinner on the Cheshire Mouldings BMW have also taken a victory each this year – meaning our supported riders have claimed 29 victories from 32 races this season.
So…can we do even better in 2025 and perhaps play our part in every victory? We’ll just have to wait and see.
Congratulations to Kyle on his first title and thank you to Tommy, Glenn, Ryan and all of our supported riders and teams for making this season one of our greatest yet!