Josh Brookes makes surprise admission about “unique” Oulton Park BSB win

Although he took “pride” in his battle with Leon Haslam in Race 1 at the Oulton Park BSB on 4 October, Josh Brookes says it’s not a win “would take great satisfaction in”.

Brookes’ triumph at Oulton Park was his first in BSB since he won at the same track aboard the FHO BMW in 2023 over two years before.

It was also a landmark win for the DAO Racing team, the outfit’s first in BSB, but Brookes said the “circumstances” of the win – meaning the particular conditions that saw many riders taking different decisions on tyre choice – meant it wasn’t a win he found especially satisfying.

“The circumstances were quite unique,” Brookes told Crash.net, speaking after Race 3 on Sunday (5 October) at Oulton Park.

“It wasn’t a win that I personally would take great satisfaction in.”

On the other hand, Brookes appreciated that the only other rider with the same tyre strategy as him was Leon Haslam.

“However, the person that I was racing at the time was Leon Haslam, a championship winner and currently strong championship contender,” Brookes said.

“So, to be in a battle with him – I take pride in that. It’s not like it was just me on my own.”

The Australian added that the importance of the result for the team was not lost on him.

“I feel great for the team,” he said. “I recognise how much effort the team put in; there might be many teams that do the same, but they don’t always get the rewards for the effort. 

“It’s a small contribution towards what they deserve. I’m glad to be able to bring it to them.”

Ultimately, though, Brookes found himself focused on his performance when conditions were more usual on Sunday, when both races were run in full dry conditions.

In those two races, Brookes was eighth in Race 2, and 12th in Race 3, results that he found “extremely disappointing”.

“I’m focused more on dry weather, what I call ‘proper racing’,” the two-time BSB Champion said.

“We need to make big improvements. 

“We saw today [Sunday] with the races going back to more conventional conditions I dropped back to a more regular position as I’ve been lately, which is obviously extremely disappointing for me. 

“But I have to accept that the bike and team and me are not ready for where we want to be. There’s something we’re missing. 

“For me, the area is quite obvious, but how to fix it is quite a mystery. 

“As long as there’s been people racing motorbikes they’ve always tried to find a magic way to fix the problems and that’s not the reality, you’ve got to work hard and make small steps and, eventually, maybe you’ll get there. 

“So, that’s what we’re focused on: just keep moving forwards even if it’s small steps.”