Source: Supplied.

Milwaukee BMW and Josh Brookes finally made some legitimate headway with the S 1000 RR at Donington Park on Sunday, resulting in a season-best ninth-place finish for the reigning British title-holder.

Brookes has had a frustrating return to World Superbike fulltime in 2016 after struggling to extract an ideal setting out of the BMW, however a gamble over the weekend resulted in real progress during race two.

“It was a much better race for us today,” Brookes reflected. “The improvement started in morning warm-up after we talked about some changes to the bike overnight, mainly involving the swingarm. It was a bit of an experiment, but it worked and made the bike more nimble without sacrificing any performance.

“It was great to then see the changes transpire into a good race. I was able to make up positions and force some passes and it was good to be able to push the bike and really get some feedback from it. It was the best I’ve felt on the bike all year and I hope it’s a sign of things to come.

“We’ve got lots of positives to take away from Donington and use to build some momentum ahead of the next race at Misano. I’ve raced there a few times in the past and know the track, so hopefully we’ll carry on from where we left here and make more steps forward.”

Carrying increased expectations into the Donington Park weekend, Brookes qualified back in 14th and claimed that same position in race one before the set-up modifications enabled him to charge through to ninth in race two.