Source: BSB.

Josh Brookes was crowned the Monster Energy ‘King of Brands Hatch’ after taking an impressive double win in the sixth round of a dramatic and incident-packed sixth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit.

The Aussie had missed out on pole position by just 0.001s to his arch-rival Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne but in the races, the Milwaukee Yamaha was unstoppable and he had taken the lead from his PBM Kawasaki rival on the fourth lap of the opening race.

Brookes wasn’t prepared to give an inch and Byrne was pushing hard, but it was a double disappointment for the PBM Kawasaki team as first Stuart Easton crashed out rapidly at Hawthorns, only for Byrne to do the same just a few laps later.

Brookes then held off the close attentions of Richard Cooper on the Anvil Hire TAG Kawasaki, and JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s James Ellison to enjoy his first victory of the season while Byrne’s team won a race against time to rebuild his bike to have him back on track for the second race.

Byrne repaid their efforts by bouncing back from his 120mph crash to be back at the front of the pack in the second race, but Brookes was thirsty for more and he made his move at Druids and held off the four-time champion for the victory with Cooper completing a double podium celebration.

Ellison ran fourth in race two ahead of Michael Laverty, who twice finished fifth having earlier been eased out of fourth place by his Tyco BMW team-mate Tommy Bridewell who crashed out of the second race.

John Hopkins enjoyed a strong ride on his return to the series, claiming sixth place in the opening race – the best result of the season for the Lloyds British Moto Rapido Ducati team.

Of the remaining Aussies in the field Jason O’Halloran (Honda Racing) crashed out on the opening lap of race one before finishing ninth in the second, while Billy McConnell (Smith’s Racing BMW) had a good weekend with 10-6 results, Broc Parkes (Milwaukee Yamaha) went 11-10, Josh Waters (Bennetts Suzuki) 17-19 and Jed Metcher (PR Racing Kawasaki) 18-DNF.

2015 British Superbike Championship
Round six – Brands Hatch

Superbike race one results:
1. Josh Brookes (AUS)
2. Richard Cooper
3. James Ellison
4. Tommy Bridewell
5. Michael Laverty
6. John Hopkins
7. Luke Mossey
8. Dan Linfoot
9. James Westmoreland
10. Billy McConnell (AUS)
11. Broc Parkes (AUS)
17. Josh Waters (AUS)
18. Jed Metcher (AUS)

Superbike race two results:
1. Josh Brookes (AUS)
2. Shane Byrne
3. Richard Cooper
4. James Ellison
5. Michael Laverty
6. Billy McConnell (AUS)
7. Luke Mossey
8. Christian Iddon
9. Jason O’Halloran (AUS)
10. Broc Parkes (AUS)
19. Josh Waters (AUS)

Superbike championship standings:
1. Shane Byrne 221
2. Josh Brookes (AUS) 216
3. James Ellison 147
4. Stuart Easton 139
5. Jason O’Halloran (AUS) 103
6. Tommy Bridewell 99
7. Michael Laverty 98
8. Richard Cooper 76
9. Dan Linfoot 62
10. Billy McConnell (AUS) 53
17. Broc Parkes (AUS) 38
21. Josh Waters (AUS) 13
28. Jed Metcher (AUS) 1

Click here for detailed results