Bridewell makes headway on opening day at Estoril

The Superbike Advocates Racing rider builds confidence and feeling as he rides at Estoril for the first time

Superbike Advocates Racing and rider Tommy Bridewell are at Portugal’s Estoril Circuit for round eleven of the 2026 Superbike World Championship.

Friday brought two free practice sessions, in which SBK rookie Bridewell worked to get a handle on a track he’s not seen before. An innocuous crash in the first few minutes of FP1 did nothing to deter team and rider although it did limit the time they had available. Back out for the second half of the session, Tommy made gradual progress, gaining knowledge and confidence with every lap of the track. Focused on building feeling before beginning the setup work in earnest, Bridewell rounded out the session in twenty-second place.

The team used the day’s second session to better evaluate the technical setup of the Ducati Panigale V4 R and identify solutions that might make their rider more at ease around the Portuguese track. Bridewell got off to an encouraging start, immediately upping his pace and performance with respect to the morning’s practice. The afternoon session saw further progress in terms of the rider’s feel for the circuit and understanding of its demands. Conscious that there is still work to be done in tomorrow’s sessions in order to be race-ready, the #46 rider put in a best of 1’37.026 to round out day one in twentieth position.

Tommy Bridewell #46

“A tough first day, but we knew coming into this round that our lack of experience at this track would put us on the back foot. We've learned a lot today at least, so now we'll see if we can use that to our advantage in tomorrow's sessions as we continue working in preparation for the first race."