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Josh Brookes is satisfied with his pre-season preparations ahead of Silverstone’s Bennetts British Superbike Championship (BSB) opener this weekend, which will mark his racing debut with Be Wiser Ducati.

The former champion has performed strongly in pre-season testing aboard the all-new Panigale V4 R, injecting confidence into the Australian as he makes a bid for a second BSB crown.

“I’m very pleased as everything is looking very competitive at this early stage going into the season,” Brookes explained. “To be so close to where we need to be is very promising considering we’ve found an excellent set-up at all the tracks we’ve tested at, without doing massive changes.

“Both at Silverstone last week and previously in Europe, at totally different tracks and opposing weather conditions, we have been towards the top of the times, so we have a good working area and hopefully that transpires into a good result this weekend.”

Compatriot Jason O’Halloran has taken up Brookes’ former position at McAms Yamaha this year, topping the timesheets in majority of pre-season tests. Rookie Ben Currie (Bournemouth Kawasaki) will make up the trio of Australians in the premier class of the British championship in 2019.