TOMMY Bridewell believes he emerged from weekend one of the British Superbikes Championship with the answers he was looking for despite a tough start to the season at Donington Park on Monday.

The Etchilhampton rider was in action on his Tyco BMW Motorrad Racing BMW 1000ccRR Superbike and started from 17th place on the grid.

With a good start and, after the safety car had been deployed in the early stages, the field closed up and Bridewell made the most of the restart.

At the end of the 20-lap race he finished in a well-earned sixth place.

Bridewell started the second race from 10th place on the grid and finished in eighth to occupy the same position in the early championship standings.

The Wiltshire rider said: “We got ourselves out of a bit of a hole in both races.

“Obviously race one was a little bit stronger, but at least we know where we are going wrong now.

“We have to take the positives away from the weekend.

“We qualified 17th, but came away with a sixth and an eighth and we have time to improve things even further for the next round.”

Trowbridge's Victor Cox qualified well for the first of two 20-lap races but was denied a finish when an engine problem forced him to drop off on the final lap.

Starting from 30th on the grid in the second race, Cox finished 21st.

The next round of the championship takes place at the Brands Hatch Indy circuit on April 17-19.