Donington Park wins on the agenda for Yamaha-mounted Australian.
Josh Brookes says his British Superbike Championship “disaster” at Cadwell Park has only made him more determined to come out all guns blazing at Donington Park this weekend.
The Aussie is targeting the final Podium Points at Donington as he bids to spoil the ‘War for Four’ titles between Shane Byrne and Ryuichi Kiyonari and claim his first BSB crown. Going into the final two races of the Main Season, Brookes is 21 points behind Byrne.
“Donington Park is one of the last shakedowns really to get it right before the Showdown, but of course I am going there to win the races,” Brookes said.
Brookes had been pushing at the front throughout free practice on August Bank Holiday at Cadwell, but in qualifying an issue put him 10th on the grid. In the opening race the Milwaukee Yamaha rider carved his way through to fourth, narrowly missing out on vital Podium Points, but in race two a crash on the warm-up lap ended his race before it had even started.
Since that setback, Brookes has taken some positive steps forward with the Milwaukee Yamaha at last week’s test at Assen, hunting down Byrne in the final stages of the day.
“As a general weekend, Cadwell Park didn’t go that well for us, so it was really important to clear our minds of all that and have a good run at Assen for the test,” he added. “We made a few changes that are more suited to that track compared to the more conventional tracks we ride on, so we needed some time to try them and be sure that it is the right thing to do.
“We changed quite a few things at the test and I can do a similar lap time on quite a few settings, but there is one direction that I keep going back to that seems to be the best. We still have more to improve with the front tyre feeling, and it will take some more time at the event, but now we have a good foundation to start with.
“At Cadwell Park we had a complete disaster weekend and it didn’t have a big effect as I already have my position in the Showdown confirmed – although it probably is a big deal if the championship comes down to one point at the end of the season.”