Josh Brookes took second and fourth place finishes at Thruxton as stoppages put pay to race strategy. Image: Suzuki-Racing.com

A series of safety car sessions and red flags rendered Josh Brookes’ strategy for the weekend’s Thruxton British Superbike races ineffective and leaving the Australian rider frustrated that potential wins went begging.

The Tyco Suzuki pilot secured a customary front row start in the Superbike class, and, with the selection of Pirelli’s harder SC2 rear tyre, hope to gain a distinct advantage in the closing stages of the races.

A safety car period in race one hindered Brookes’ plans but he pushed on as leader regardless. The Australian was defenceless, however, when Kawasaki’s Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne found room to force a pass on the last lap.

Two safety car interventions in race two again proved costly, with Brookes displaced from second to fourth and forced into defensive mode. Another crash resulted in a red flag and marked the end of race two.

“I don’t want to complain but I am frustrated at the outcome as the red flag in race two especially really destroyed our strategy with the SC2 tyre,” said Brookes.

“We opted for the harder tyre in both races but with so many incidents I didn’t get the chance to really make it pay in race one; and race two pretty-much ended after seven or eight laps behind a pace car.

“It could have been worse and we could have ended up in the fence like a lot of other guys, so we will just re-group now and look forward to Oulton.

“We know we can make the Shootout okay; it’s just a matter of stopping Shakey winning so many races.”

Tyco Suzuki team manager Philip Neill shared Brookes’ frustrations after the weekend.

“Josh was super-strong at the end of the first race but just left the door open on the last lap for Shakey, which cost him dearly,” explained Neil.

“We were very confident for race two and the strategy was not to move to the front until the final few laps, which we were not able to do because of the stoppage.”

Brookes will head to round three of the British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park placed third on the points ladder.