British Superbikes: Tommy Bridewell beats Glenn Irwin to title by 0.5 points
- Published
Tommy Bridewell won the championship by the smallest margin in BSB history
Tommy Bridewell beat Glenn Irwin to the British Superbike title by just 0.5 points in a thrilling final race at Brands Hatch.
The lead of the race and the championship changed hands nine times as Bridewell, Irwin and Kyle Ryde battled it out for victory.
Bridewell needed to finish second as Irwin led onto the final lap.
He made an overtake stick on Ryde at Druids to win the championship by the smallest of margins.
There were emotional celebrations as Bridewell, 35, dedicated his title to his late brother Ollie, who died in an accident in 2007, and the late PBM Ducati team owner Paul Bird, who passed away in September.
Irwin and Bridewell have had a heated season as the team-mates battled it out for the championship but the pair embraced after the chequered flag and set their differences aside after their last-lap battle.
"I'm getting a lump in my throat now. I've rehearsed this for a brave few years, I can tell you that," Bridewell said on Eurosport.
"Firstly, I want to say thank you to Glenn. He brought the worst and the best out of me this year. I absolutely think he is an unbelievable rider.
"I want to say this is for my brother. Everything I do in my life, I promised him I would become British champion. My life is complete. Whatever happens for me now, I'm complete.
"We also want to dedicate this to our loved boss [Paul Bird], who we lost this year. He took a risk on me. I told him I would give him everything I had got."
It was a heartbreaking way for the season to end for Irwin, who won both of Sunday's races at Brands Hatch, but came up short against his team-mate.
There had been several flashpoints between the riders throughout the season, most notably at Donington Park when Bridewell crashed into Irwin, but the Northern Irish rider was magnanimous in defeat.
Starting sixth, Irwin knew he had to win the race and hope Bridewell finished third or below, and the chopping and changing for the lead of the race between the Ducati pair and Ryde - who had an outside shot at the title - meant the championship scenario changed on numerous occasions over the 14 laps.
Irwin and OMG Yamaha's Ryde swapped the lead three times on one lap as the battle heated up, and the former made a move stick on the penultimate lap which piled the pressure onto Bridewell.
Needing to make a final-lap pass to win the title, he forced his way up the inside of Ryde's Yamaha into Druids and put up a stern defence to hold on and finish second behind Irwin, taking the title by the smallest margin in the history of the British Superbike Championship.
"Half a point - I guess it highlights how good the championship was," Irwin told BBC Sport.
"Whether it is half a point, by 10 or 20, it is still a loss but it's a credit to the whole series.
"I was always alright at maths at school and as I was riding round I was aware of all that. I am gutted, I've kind of got over the emotion of it but I gave it everything."
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Irwin, 33, added that his career was going "from strength to strength" and he hopes to build on that in 2024.
"I've now another two North West 200 wins in the bag, now eight consecutively and I'm now one off Joey Dunlop," he said.
"I've now consecutive runner-up positions in the British Superbike Championship and 10 wins this year, the most out of anyone.
"I can't ask for much more, other than half a point.
"I want to be the first guy [from Northern Ireland to win the BSB title]. I want to win multiple titles.
"It hurts a lot but I gave it so much.
"There's nothing signed as such [for 2024], obviously the team has been through a difficult moment. It was probably the best possible outcome for the Birdman, he would be smiling.
"There have been nice verbal conversations, handshakes as such. A handshake in my eyes is ink on a paper, but we'll let the team go through what they need to."