Josh Brookes sets sights on 2026 Isle of Man TT podium after Honda breakthrough

A podium challenge could be on the cards for Josh Brookes in the 1,000cc races at the Isle of Man TT after he and the DAO Racing team made a major breakthrough in the setup of the Honda CBR1000RR-R at the North West 200.

Brookes spent the duration of his 2025 road racing campaign trying to solve a stability issue on the Honda, the current generation of which he rode for the first time last year, but was never able to cure it.

In 2026, riding on the roads with the same DAO Racing squad he’s been with in BSB since the beginning of last season, the Australian was able to finish in the top-five of all three 1,000cc races at the North West 200 on 9 May, including a podium in the Superstock race.

Brookes says the solid results in Northern Ireland were down to finally being able to land on a bike setup that improves the stability of the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP.

“Purely, for me, just stability was the most critical factor,” said Brookes, speaking to Crash.net after the last race at the Donington BSB.

“Last year, everything we tried was about trying to get the bike to run true and straight, and then try to build some confidence. 

“I never found that. 

“For all the trying we did last year, we never really got the bike to work nice. So, in that case, you never really get a chance to start refining, either, because you’re chasing something that’s a big target. 

“Whereas this year, from the first practice, the bike was nice and stable. We were still a little bit unsure because the first sessions were wet, so we were like ‘What if we’re getting our hopes up, and then it goes dry and the bike becomes unstable again’. 

“But we were very [pleased to find] that the bike stayed nice and stable even in the dry. From that moment, we started to make little changes to try and make the package more comfortable for me to be able to brake later and be more confident in making a pass, for example.”

Brookes also feels he was riding with margin at the North West 200.

“I’m not too proud to say it, I do take it a bit sort of step-by-step slowly on the roads because of the obvious reason,” he said.

“So, when I look back at the race from the North West on the TV, I watch myself thinking ‘I’m riding very conservative and within myself’, and I think that’s an accurate evaluation because I feel like I was riding within myself, I wasn’t riding to the maximum I can brake or the maximum I could accelerate or lean or change direction. 

“I was riding like I was on a road, a public street. 

“So, that is the best way for me to start; there are others that are comfortable to go much faster, much quicker earlier on, but that’s not in my character. 

“So, from the results that we were able to achieve at the North West, is really the only thing I can gauge on how I feel going to the TT. It’s another street circuit and the bike was performing really good, so I hope that that continues.”

Brookes added that being in podium contention is his target for the TT: “I would like to be somewhere amongst the podium potential. 

“You’ve got the likes of the usual: Dean [Harrison], Hicky [Peter Hickman], Michael [Dunlop], [...] normally Davey but he won’t be there; then you sort of get the likes of like me, Hutchy’s [Ian Hutchinson] sort of an unknown – I think he could be a real potential in that range as well. 

“I see potential to be there, but I’m not going to kind of claim a result before it happens.”

Suzuki “pleasant” in Supersport

Brookes also debuted on the Carl Cox Motorsport-backed Uggly & Co. Racing Suzuki GSX-R750 in the Supersport class at the North West 200, and will be back on the bike at the TT.

The Australian found the bike to be “pleasant” to ride and his hopeful that its characteristics will lend itself more to the Isle of Man than the more stop-start layout in Portrush.

“It was really good,” Brookes said of the Suzuki. “It was pleasant to ride the bike with a short experience on it previously, and it was a pleasant bike to ride. 

“We didn’t have to make [many] changes to get comfortable. 

“I feel like the rear shock we could focus on doing a little bit of change there; it seemed like the bigger bikes rode the bumps a bit smoother, the small bike, I don’t know if it’s because it’s a smaller bike or it doesn’t have that sort of load in the rear as you’re accelerating, but the bike seemed to skip over the bumps a little bit more than the bigger bikes, so I think it’s somewhere we can improve that package. 

“The top speed didn’t really set any records, so I don’t know that will let us down at the TT, but it definitely had a nice sort of acceleration feel off the corners and the mid-range is strong.

“I think for the nature of the TT – being more flowing than the North West – it could actually be a stronger package at the TT than we saw it at the North West. 

“So, the fact that I was in the fight for podium positions again leads me to think maybe that’s a chance at the TT as well.”