Double victory sets Aussie up for first British title.
Josh Brookes celebrated a Showdown double win at Silverstone at the penultimate round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship to maintain the advantage ahead of the triple-header season finale at Brands Hatch in two weeks’ time.
The Milwaukee Yamaha rider had to work hard for the two wins at the Northamptonshire circuit; in the opening race he had to overcome the challenges of America’s John Hopkins and then James Ellison in the early stages of the race, before arch rival Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne joined the fray.
Brookes had been holding third place with three laps to go but then he pulled a decisive move on Byrne and then Ellison to hit the front. The pair tried to launch a retaliation but the Australian had the edge to win ahead of Byrne.
Meanwhile in third place Ellison was mugged on the penultimate lap by Peter Hickman onboard the RAF Reserves BMW and Hopkins, who claimed his best result of the season in fourth place.
Byrne elevated himself up the grid for the second race and he started from pole position for the PBM Kawasaki team. He claimed the lead on the opening lap as Ellison began his charge to hit the front of the field by the third lap with some committed moves on the defending champion, Dan Linfoot and Hickman.
Linfoot had been holding third behind Ellison and Byrne, but Brookes was carving his way up the order after running eighth over the opening laps. The Milwaukee Yamaha rider was up to fourth by the eighth lap and then made a move on both Byrne and Linfoot to move to within striking distance of Ellison.
A lap later and Brookes made the final move on Ellison that would put him back at the front of the field and then he forged a margin to claim his second victory of the day. Meanwhile the intense battle for the final podium positions raged with Linfoot and Laverty trading places with the Tyco BMW rider emerging ahead to score his best result of the season.
On the final lap Byrne and Christian Iddon were dicing for fourth place but the Bennetts Suzuki rider was able to get the better of the defending champion to score his strongest finish of the season.
Ellison meanwhile drastically dropped down the order over the final laps after challenging at the front of the field due to a severe drop in rear tyre grip, finish 17th.
2015 British Superbike Championship
Round 11 – Silverstone
Race one results:
1. Josh Brookes (AUS)
2. Shane Byrne +0.688s
3. Peter Hickman +1.923s
4. John Hopkins +2.745s
5. James Ellison +3.254s
6. Michael Laverty +3.480s
7. Dan Linfoot +6.377s
8. Christian Iddon +8.999s
9. Tommy Bridewell +11.786s
10. Jakub Smrz +12.280s
13. Billy McConnell (AUS) +17.927s
15. Josh Waters (AUS) +21.175s
20. Jed Metcher (AUS) +46.593s
Race two results:
1. Josh Brookes (AUS)
2. Michael Laverty +3.568s
3. Dan Linfoot +3.748s
4. Christian Iddon +5.050s
5. Shane Byrne +5.463s
6. Richard Cooper +8.158s
7. Tommy Bridewell +8.507s
8. Peter Hickman +9.690s
9. Lee Jackson +9.884s
10. Luke Mossey +13.965s
18. Josh Waters (AUS) +23.904s
20. Jed Metcher (AUS) +47.297s