Aussie Josh Brookes stormed through the BSB pack before crashing out on Easter Monday.

Australian Josh Brookes remains upbeat despite a crushing start to his 2011 British Superbike Championship campaign when he crashed out at Brands Hatch on Monday.

The Relentless Suzuki by TAS rider was deemed ‘not fit’ to take part in the second race after high-siding while challenging for the lead in the opening race at the Kent circuit, after scything through the pack from a lowly 13th-placed start on the grid.

Just when the current BSB number two was planning his attack on race-leader Shane Byrne, he suffered a spectacular high-side at the top of Paddock Hill Bend, prematurely ending his Easter Monday debut.

“I suppose we did all right coming back from where we were in qualifying and I have to say, everything felt 100 percent better today on my bike,” he explained.

“As I said after qualifying, I knew what caused the problem and once we’d that sorted we were fast in morning warm-up and in the race. While I was battling with people in the race, I couldn’t get into a proper rhythm, but once I got to P2 – which was quite easy – I was totally confident.

“I saw ‘Shakey’ and thought, ‘I’m in a good position here,’ but it all ended at Paddock Hill. I’m upbeat because I really can’t believe how I didn’t injure myself in such a big crash. Now I’m just looking forward to Oulton Park.”

Team manager Philip Neill was impressed with Brookes’ race day performance despite the end result not going according to plan.

“Josh proved in the opening BSB race that we’d really cracked it with his set-up this morning in warm-up and I have to admit, watching him come through from 13th to second place – it’s been a long time since I’ve taken so much pleasure watching someone on a Superbike,” Neill said.

“He was so strong and made a pass on almost every lap – no one could hold him off at Clearways. He can certainly ride a motorbike and that’s why we signed him, for his ‘never say die’ attitude.

“He just pushed that little-too hard down Paddock Hill which caused the crash, but we’ll accept that and move on. Until then, he made the whole GSX-R1000 Superbike package look absolutely superb.”