ETCHILHAMPTON rider Tommy Bridewell was able to salvage a top-10 finish at round four of the MCE British Superbike Championship at Knockhill.

After struggling with the settings of his GSX-R1000, the Wiltshire ace qualified in 20th position for the opening race, but fought his way up to 12th.

Starting 16th for the second outing, he took the chequered flag in eighth.

Bridewell said: “It was a very difficult weekend to be honest, but I think we really showed our character to turn it around.

“We were a bit lost on Friday and I couldn’t get comfortable.

“We made some radical changes for FP3 and again for qualifying and they didn’t have the effect that we’d hoped, so we were really up against it for the races.

“After qualifying we went through everything in really fine detail, and just made some more changes for the warm-up, and I went out and went half a second faster, which around Knockhill, is a big chunk of time.

“But starting in 20th was always going to be difficult, and even though we got up to 12th, that’s nowhere near where I want to be.

“In the wet race I felt really good and the bike was mega, and really justified us doing those laps at Snetterton in the wet because we used the map we developed there, and it worked so well.

“The chassis set-up was spot on, and I just felt like I could out-brake everyone.”

The next round is at Snetterton on July 8-10.