Teenager bridewell in brave Brands Hatch battle

Motorsport The final rounds of the 2007 British SuperbikeChampionship fought at Brands Hatch left the local riders withlittle to celebrate.

Tommy Bridewell, returning to the NB Suzuki team, had a warmreception from the appreciative and knowledgeable crowd.

Displaying an acute shortage of time on the bike in recent weeks,the Wiltshire teenager struggled to qualify 31st of the 33contestants in the BSB feature race.

In race one, he battled to finish 21st, but in race two he reallyshowed his courage and from his back row grid position set aboutpicking off riders, eventually moving up to share an exciting battlewith James Buckingham, Dean Thomas and Tommy Hill to finish a verycreditable 15th.

In the National Superstock Championship, Victor Cox, from Bradfordon Avon, could not get to terms with his MV Augusta machine on acircuit where he has stood on the top of the podium in the past,qualifying 32nd of the 38 starters.

Despite overhauling some riders throughout the race, he could onlymuster 23rd place, one lap down on the leaders.

Contesting the Virgin Media R6 Cup, Alastair Fagan qualified 11th,just 0.7 seconds from pole on the short circuit at Brands.

In a hard-fought race he gained one position to finish 10th.