TOMMY Bridewell intends to carry his British Superbikes Championship challenge all the way to the end of the season after climbing to joint top of the standings after a strong weekend of results at round two at Oulton Park.

Etchilhampton racer Bridewell finished second in both races at the Cheshire circuit as Australian Josh Brookes took victory on each occasion.

The podium places were the first of the season for 30-year-old Bridewell after he finished fifth and fourth at the opening round at Silverstone two weeks earlier.

Those strong results at Oulton Park saw Bridewell climb to the top of the championship leaderboard in his Oxford Racing Ducati, level with MCams Yahama rider Tarran Mackenzie on 64 points.

Danny Buchan is the duo’s nearest challenger on 55 points on his FS-3 Kawasaki.

With dual Oulton Park race winner Brookes also on board a Ducati this season, Bridewell believes he has shown he has the capabilities to be in the mix for title glory in 2019.

“We have had a mega start to the season and now we are joint championship leader, which is good for us and good for Ducati,” said Bridewell, who will resume his championship challenge at round three at Donington Park on May 24-26.

“You can see this weekend that the Ducati is a strong package. Josh (Brookes) has ridden mega and I feel like we have had a good weekend.

“It bodes well for the championship with the way it is shaping up.

“I genuinely am here to fight for the championship.

“I have the package, I have the bike, so we just need to keep consistent, keep getting podium credits and hopefully at Donington, go that one better.”

Bridewell finished just 0.204secs behind winner Brookes in the first race at Oulton Park, with that gap increased to 2.686secs in the second.

The Wiltshire racer was thrilled with his efforts in Cheshire, with both his and Brookes’ Ducati bikes well clear of the rest of the field.

“The team did a great job. I am really happy with the way the races have turned out,” said Bridewell.

“We made quite a gutsy change for race two and were able to up the pace, but obviously so was Josh.”