EXCLUSIVE: Josh Brookes “a lot of work to do” on Honda ahead of Isle of Man TT

Josh Brookes says he still has margin for improvement on the Honda CBR1000RR-R ahead of the Isle of Man TT.

Brookes joined the Jackson Racing team for the 2025 road racing campaign, and was able to make progress in his first road race on the Honda CBR1000RR-R at the North West 200 earlier in May.

“[The North West 200] was okay in the end,” Brookes told Crash.net after Race 3 at the recent Donington BSB round, where he took DAO Racing's first British Superbike podium in Race 1.

“The beginning of the North West was a real struggle, we had an obvious stability issue with the bike; that took some time to find direction and improvements.

“At the end of the North West I ended up with a fifth in the Superbike race, so not a terrible result, but it just took too long to get those changes because the bike acts completely differently on a roads circuit than it does on a race track.

“[This] actually surprised me a little bit, I was expecting better from the bike on the roads because the Honda is sort of [known for] being such a good roads bike.”

Brookes added that, ahead of the Isle of Man TT which begins on 26 May, he still has work to do on the Jackson Racing Honda to get it in a window where he feels comfortable to push.

“We’re moving to the TT now, I’ve still got, I think, a lot of work to do to get that bike somewhere where I would be confident to push and make good lap times,” he said.

“So, that’s the next focus. I learned a lot about the bike, the machine [at the North West 200] – it even influenced how we went this weekend, so I’ve got no reason to think that progress won’t continue at the TT.”