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It was a weekend of highs and lows for FHO Racing’s Josh Brookes in the fifth round of the 2023 British Superbike Championship (BSB), scoring solid P2 results in races one and two before a technical problem while leading ruled him out of the final encounter at Snetterton.

Overcoming early setbacks at round five, Brookes qualified fifth fastest and later secured a runner-up result in the sprint race, 0.679s behind Tommy Bridewell (BeerMonster Ducati).

The FHO Racing BMW rider scored another P2 in race two before charging to the lead in race three, where unfortunately a sensor failure forced him to retire from the race with six laps remaining.

“Where do I start!” Brookes recalled. “It’s hard because everything was going so well. Earlier in the weekend we had some setbacks, but we worked hard and got past those. We qualified good and then race one we had a podium, race two we had another second place, so we kind of felt like we were building more and more momentum as we went through the weekend.

“We made a small change for the final race, and it felt like we’d really improved, maybe found that sweet spot and made it a little sweeter. I was in the perfect position leading the race and then we had a sensor failure and was forced to stop.

“I’ve said it’s better to have been in the lead and lost it, than never to have been in the lead at all, so I think that’s the most positive way to look at it. We now move to Brands Hatch, we’re fit, healthy and everyone will be motivated to try and bounce back and get us back at the front again where we have been this weekend.”

With two wins and seven podiums so far in the 2023 British Superbike Championship, Brookes is fourth in the title race as the series moves to Brands Hatch for round six between 21-23 July.