TOMMY Bridewell is eyeing up the overall podium positions in the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship after a good performance at the Showdown round in Holland last weekend.

The Etchilhampton rider followed up his ninth-placed finish in race one at Assen to claim third in the second outing and move up to fourth in the overall standings.

While title-chasing teammate Josh Brookes suffered a nightmare round, failing to score points in either race, Bridewell started race two from the sixth row and carved his way through the pack to close in on title rivals Shane Byrne and Ryuichi Kiyonari, claiming third place.

That left him fourth overall, just behind Brookes, ahead of the next round at Silverstone and the Wiltshire ace said: “We are closer to Josh now so it is all closing up and I am looking forward to Silverstone now.

“The conditions were horrible in race one and we struggled to be honest, but I knew after qualifying we had the pace in dry.

“Starting down the grid for the second race didn’t help me but it did make it more fun that’s for sure.

“It was important to finish third for the championship, third isn’t ideally where we want to be but it is better than a DNF (did not finish) or worse.’’

Team owner Shaun Muir said: “Tommy showed real fire and determination to fight for that podium in the second race, especially from where he started on the grid and it was arguably his best performance of the season.’’

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