Brookes scores pole and a race win upon return to Australia.
SA Kawasaki BCperformance’s Robbie Bugden clinched the 2016 Australian FX-Superbike Championship on Friday at Sydney Motorsport Park, as IPONE Yamaha’s Michael Blair won the round.
International guest Josh Brookes took pole position on debut with SA Kawasaki BCperformance earlier in the day and went on to win a wet opening race from Bugden and Blair.
With the rain clearing for race two later in the afternoon, it was Blair who took victory and the round overall as a result. Second was enough for Bugden to clinch the title, while Brookes was third overall after finishing P4.
Brookes managed to set the quickest lap of the race at 1m33.947s in near-dry conditions, however an off-track excursion saw him have to settle for fourth behind Matthew Walters (Kawasaki Connection Repsol) in the seven-rider field.
In Supersport it was Sam Muldoon (Kawasaki) who won the day over Kyle Buckley (Kawasaki) and Mark Chiodo (Triumph), with Buckley edging to the championship from Mitch Levy (Yamaha), who was fifth on Friday behind Giuseppe Scarcella (Honda).
Other round winners on the opening day of competition included Sam Condon (FX-300 Ninja Cup), Evan Byles (Formula Oz) and Heath Griffin (Pro-Twins/Nakedbikes).