Josh Brookes makes fluctuating return to Australian racing

Josh Brookes made a return to Australia last weekend (5–7 December) to race the St. George Motorcycle Club’s Summer Night Series.

Brookes raced the same series in the BSB off-season last year, and returned this year on a Honda CBR1000RR-R prepared by the DAO Racing team he rides for in Britain.

Victorious in Race 1, Brookes finished second in the second outing before crashing out of the final race. It meant he finished the weekend fifth overall, while Moto2 rider Senna Agius won the second and third races to win the round overall.

Brookes explained that, although the bike was prepared in the UK by DAO, there were still some things for him to adjust once he got hold of the bike.

“I picked up the flight case from the transport company on Friday lunchtime and brought it home to unpack the bike sent over from the DAO Racing team,” said Brookes.

“It isn’t my British Superbike, it is a bike the team have put together in Superstock spec for British Championship or Australian Superbike spec, which mirrors the Superstock we have in the UK.

“I did have a few things to alter and adjust on the bike when I got it, and give it a check over and change over the tyres for practice, put brake pads and discs in for racing and just general preparation for getting it ready for the following day.

“The following day we had a few practices where I tuned the electronics a bit for myself as I knew what I wanted from last year and the same with the suspension where I made a few adjustments to put it to where I was happy with the bike from last year, as this bike is very much like the one I built for myself last year for the winter. I just didn’t have the burden to have to do that whole process again.

“I went into the evening with the qualifying and then three races. I did the minimum number of laps in qualifying because I wanted to carry the tyre over into the first race. I think that is what most people on the grid do for this: use two rears and use one for qualifying and race one and the other for race two and three.”

Speaking about the races, Brookes continued: “I qualified in third which I was pretty happy with as I didn’t do many laps. Race 1 I got a poor start because the bike didn’t start in the same manner as my British Superbike would and I hadn’t practiced any starts and it took me by surprise a little. 

“I followed JJ Nahlous for quite a few laps as he was leading and I made a pass on him and then he passed me back, then on the final lap I positioned myself to do a slipstream manoeuvre on the finish to take the win.

“Race 2 I started with a new tyre and had good grip from the bike and it was performing well; I got a slightly better start, but Senna Agius passed me on the Ducati. I did attempt to line up for some passes back but it wasn’t successful so he finally won the race and I was second.

“In the third race, I got a little bit better start, but because of the hard battle I had in race two, I had used up a lot of the tyre, so carrying that same tyre into race three, I felt like I had really penalised myself and I didn’t feel as strong as I had in the previous races. 

“I was taking a lot of risks to try and make up the ground that I had lost in the opening laps, whilst I was trying to adapt to the bike not performing as well.

“I was making good progress, I had lost a lot of ground to the first three, and then I was closing up slowly and I had just got to the back of Glenn Allerton in third and unfortunately lost the front. 

“I had used the same front tyre for the whole evening, so I think, in the future, I will swap the front tyre between races one and two, so that I have more grip from the front.

“In any case, it was me that was taking the risks on the brakes to make up the lost time, that caused that crash I believe. I am perfectly fine and have no injuries but the bike was pretty rough looking when I got it back, so the next race is on 9 January, so I have time on my side to get it repaired and back in order so I am looking forward to the return then.”