Brookes ‘on course’ to close up to Halsam

Josh Brookes feels his progress in the 2018 Bennetts British Superbike championship means he's on course to catch runaway leader Leon Haslam with two rounds before the Showdown kicks in.

The McAMS Yamaha rider maintained his momentum last time out at Thruxton with a win in race two to claw back points on Haslam following his double victory at Brands Hatch last month.

Brookes, who struggled to find an ideal set-up in the opening Thruxton race, says his fourth place in race one is a mark of the fine margins in BSB and feels if he can get on top of it with his YZF-R1 he will continue to eat into Haslam’s healthy points lead.

“Weekends like that [Thruxton] indicate just how difficult it is to force a result and how close the competition is every single weekend,” Brookes said. “Basically we made a small change in between races but it showed to me the difference between not even being on the podium to getting a win, it’s that close.

“Cadwell Park is of course a completely different sort of circuit where bike set-up is crucial, certain bikes have favourable characteristics for the two halves of the track and you need a good set-up to handle the whole layout.

“People talk about getting into the Showdown but I don’t really think about it, if I’m not in the Top Six then something’s gone really wrong with my season. Of course we need to close the gap on Leon in terms of Podium Points, and I think we are on the right course to achieve that.”

Brookes remains third in the BSB standings a huge 112 points behind leader Haslam but currently trails the JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider by 26 points in terms of Podium Points – which will kick in for the three-round Showdown.