Josh Brookes hoping to continue positive trend at Assen BSB: “We stumbled on something”

There were mixed results for Josh Brookes at the Donington BSB, but the Australian is hopeful of taking the positive trends of the final race to the next round at Assen on 19–21 September.

Brookes spent the first three races trying to get into the top-10, but by Race 4 he managed to break into the top-five.

The final result was more reflective of where Brookes thought he would be at Donington at the beginning of the second BSB weekend there of the season.

“I feel like the weekend’s been a bit of a mental challenge because we came here with a bike that we had confidence in, to some degree, that the pace that we should be able to do should be strong enough to be near the front,” Brookes said, speaking to Crash.net after Race 4 at Donington.

“Then the first practice showed that we were able to repeat the lap time that we’d done here in testing immediately, so I did my bit. But then the next practice we couldn’t improve, we’d already reached the threshold of the package that we had and everyone else was going quicker. 

“I thought maybe it was track conditions, because I wasn’t able to go as quick as I was earlier this year, but everyone else was going quicker. So, then I had to rule the track conditions out and start looking at the bike again and trying to understand how we’ve lost performance here. 

“I think, without going into too much detail, we don’t have the grip. For one reason or another we’ve lost grip.

“We’ve changed from Suter swingarm to TSR swingarm since earlier in the year; I don’t know how much difference this makes, it’s difficult to gauge. When we did a back-to-back [test], the TSR was exactly the same for lap time, but it felt – at least for me anyway, and the lap time, I guess, as well – more consistent. 

“So, we were like ‘If we can stay more consistent through a race, that’s equally as important as speed’. So, I don’t really know where we’ve lost performance, to be exactly sure.”

The change in swingarm came about thanks to a number of factors, Brookes explained.

“It came from a number of angles: [firstly] that it’s a lot easier for mechanics to work on, they find that [putting the shock] in and out is a nicer process,” he said.

“We were having some cracks develop in the Suter, which the TSR hasn’t done and is proving to not do. 

“The performance is equal to what we had and the consistency is a bit better. So, it’s not like it’s a real big game changer, but it’s something where there’s enough factors for us to persevere and pursue a longer run with the brand.”

The final race at Donington was better for Brookes. He wasn’t exactly certain why, though.

“But for the last race – I don’t know exactly what we’ve changed on the bike, often we were changing shock settings during the weekend, trying to improve that rear grip – we stumbled on something,” he said.

“I think it’s hard for people to recognise how small the difference is. It’s not like we’ve remodelled the whole bike. We made one small change here, one small change there, and didn’t make great progress, and then the next change was good enough.”

Brookes aims to start the Assen weekend with the same setting he ended Donington with.

“Absolutely, yes,” he said. 

“We kind of joked, but in some serious way, we’re going to clean the flies off and roll it out at Assen, like don’t touch it! 

“So, hopefully, and fingers crossed at the moment – everything crossed in fact.”

Brookes’ difficulty in finding consistent performance from the Honda is indicating to him that the bike has a small operating window, which is something he wasn’t expecting when he got on the bike at the start of this season.

“I’m getting the impression now, after spending a long time with the Honda, [the bike is] not very ‘Honda-ish’ in the fact that it’s got a very small operating window,” he said.

“As soon as you move the bike out of that window, it’s quite a challenging bike to ride, and I think a lot of the Honda riders are probably showing frustration because it is quite a difficult package to have consistently at the front. 

“What’s definitely frustrating for me is that one weekend it’ll be Andrew [Irwin] near the front, or Tommy [Bridwell] near the front, but it’s never consistent. 

“I think that illustrates a bit of where the Honda’s not the easiest machine at the moment, but I think the silver lining is that it is possible, we’ve just got to find a better method of staying inside that operating window.”