Less than 48-hours after two top ten finishes at the Snetterton round of BSB, Tommy Bridewell’s Bennetts Suzuki GSX-R1000 superbike – built by Martin Halsall’s eponymous Racing Team – was being wheeled out the back of the team’s van and into one of Donington Park’s garages for a more important event.
Laid carefully and awaiting the bike’s arrival was a branded garage mat, onto which Halsall’s pair of engineers, Colin Davies and Ian McMahon, wheeled the bike, before lifting it off the ground with fancy paddock stands and fitting digitally controlled tyre warmers. The whole procedure had a complete air of professionalism to it, effortlessly drawing the attention of all in the periphery. As the engine oil was carefully warmed (by a plug-in heater under the sump – how factory is that!) and the brand new Pirelli slicks began to cook on a medium setting, the anticipation for theWiltshire swearbox himself to arrive on the scene was building.
But Tommy wasn’t the rider scheduled to blast this 215bhp, £75,000 masterpiece around the circuit on that day. I was...