Josh Brookes: First DAO Racing BSB podium a “huge thrill for everybody”

A podium finish for Josh Brookes in Race 1 at the Donington BSB was “a huge thrill for everybody,” as the Australian gave DAO Racing its first British Superbike Championship podium.

Brookes, who joined DAO Racing as they switched from Kawasaki to Honda machinery over the winter, was in the points in both Oulton Park races, including a ninth in Race 1, but the pace he showed at Donington marked an on-paper step forward.

“We were here [at Donington] for the preseason test, we left here with a bike we were pretty happy with,” Brookes said.

“But since then we’ve obviously been to the Oulton Park test and the first round at Oulton, we’ve really I’d say developed with the bike and the team.

“So we’ve arrived here and immediately went to a new setting on the bike, we were convinced that we could make adjustments that were for the better.

“We did that, we improved the lap time, we were quick straight away in practice, dropped a little bit in qualifying to ninth which was a bit of a downer, but managed to convert that into a podium so that was huge thrill for everybody.

“Obviously, great for me to be able to bring the team their first British Superbike podium.”

On Sunday, Brookes wasn’t able to repeat the podium result, but his performance continued to improve.

“We continued to work and I’ve improved my lap time every time I’ve gone out on the bike: 1:27.4 in qualifying, 1:27.4 in the opening race, then 1:27.2 in the sprint race and 1:27.1 to finish the weekend,” he said.

“So, we are still moving forward, it’s just that, unfortunately, that’s the nature of racing – so is everyone else.

“We just need to focus on the positives and keep building momentum. Great for the team, a couple of sixths – I know it’s not a podium but it’s still positive.”