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Etchilhampton rider Tommy Bridewell scored his first win in three
long years when he took a sensational victory in today's Castle Combe Grand
National meeting in front of a bumper local crowd.
Riding the 1000cc Naturally Best Suzuki the 19-year-old Wiltshire rider
followed up a battling fourth place in the opening leg with a fantastic victory
in race two to send the local crowd home happy.
Battling with rear suspension problems throughout the weekend and still
struggling with a leg injury sustained in Italy earlier this year, Bridewell was
confident lining up for the 15-lap feature race.
Despite a mediocre start, Bridewell closed in on the leading bunch as he set
his sights on victory in the latter stages. Lying in third place with
three laps to go, Bridewell made his move on race leader Victor Cox and second
placed Barry Burrell and took the lead whereby he held on to the chequered flag
amidst emotional scenes to box off a very popular win.
"I wasn't sure that I could have pulled this off today as we really
struggled with the rear suspension and also I'm still struggling with my leg
injury. But I really wanted this win so badly and I said to myself half
way through the race 'I've got to win this', so I set about closing the leaders
down and I knew that once I had them within my sights I could do it. This
is a new chapter in the Bridewell story and it's fantastic that I've had all my
friends and family around to share this success and now that I've won this race
I plan on going and winning a load more."
For Wayside Racing team owner Marcus Bridewell, who had to make a dash back
to the team headquarters to get a replacement tyre at the last minute, it marked
a sensational return to Castle Combe for his son. A couple of years ago
eldest son Ollie just missed out on the Castle Combe title but Marcus was
obviously delighted for Tom to lift the crown this year. "We really
struggled to set the bike up and at one point in time we nearly thought about
putting it in the back of the van and going home. But we're Bridewells and
we don't give up so we did the best we could and it's paid off for us. It
goes without saying that this one's for Ollie and I'd also like to thank Rodney
Gooch and his team at Castle Combe circuit who have been simply
magnificent."
An announcement regarding Tommy's next race will made imminently once all
details have been finalised.
Castle Combe Grand National Result
1, Tommy Bridewell
2, Victor Cox
3, Barry Burrell
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