Tommy Bridewell (Ducati) after his rookie season: ‘Sometimes I took too many risks’

It came as a huge surprise when the new Advocates team applied for a place in the 2026 Superbike World Championship after the official entry deadline had passed. This was because Australian Lecha Khouri’s new team had actually intended to compete in the British Championship and had signed Tommy Bridewell as their rider for that series. It was only when the Ducati V4R was handed over during the Portimão test in January that Advocates Racing changed its plans.

After Álvaro Bautista, Bridewell was the second-oldest rider this year at 38 – as things stand, the Englishman will be the oldest competitor in 2027. Nevertheless, he rode his first full season in 2026, as did his team. Due to their last-minute entry into the World Championship, Advocates missed the season opener at Phillip Island and were not ideally prepared for every round either.

“For a team that was put together at such short notice, I think we can hold our heads high and be very proud of what we’ve achieved this season. I don’t think we could have asked for much more, and on the whole I’m very satisfied,” emphasised Bridewell. “A huge thank you to the whole team for their incredibly hard work and support – and, of course, to our sponsors and technical partners.”

We could have been a bit higher up in the overall standings.

Tommy Bridewell

The Ducati rider’s best results were fifth places at Aragon and Donington (Race 1 at both); Bridewell finished in the top 10 in twelve of the 33 races. The flip side of the coin is a total of eight retirements. Armed with the experience gained from his debut season, the seasoned rider is looking forward to 2027 with confidence.

“We could have been a bit higher up in the overall standings if I’d learnt sooner to hold back a little in certain situations, rather than taking too many risks to achieve a specific result. But when you consider that we missed the first race weekend, I think we can be very satisfied,” analysed Bridewell. “If I continue to work intensively over the winter on my riding style, my technique and my learning process, I’m confident that we’ll be able to compete for the top six places right from the start.”