Image: Supplied.

A positive set-up change for the final race at round six of the 2022 British Superbike Championship (BSB) improved Australian Josh Brookes’ feeling in the Ducati V4 R before a technical issue brought a premature end to his outing at Thruxton.

It was a trying event for Brookes, who qualified 26th and suffered for grip in the opening two races which ultimately saw him finish 20-15. He set his fastest lap of the round in race three before being forced to retire with 17 laps remaining.

“To come away today with just a single 15th place finish is massively but we made progress in each race and whilst it’s obviously come a bit too late, I was really happy with the bike in the last race,” Brookes explained. “It was chaotic in the first few laps, like BSB often is, but I outdrove some riders at the back of the track which was a real thrill as I hadn’t been able to do that all weekend.

“The changes to the set-up worked and the bike was working really well but all of a sudden, it stopped, like the ignition had been turned off or something. It’s frustrating that we couldn’t show the improvements in an end result, but I never give up and my spirits have improved so I’ll come out fighting at Cadwell.”

Brookes’ strongest result of the 2022 BSB season to date came in the first race at Oulton Park where he was P4. He currently sits 13th in the standings, 70 points from P8 required to make the Showdown.