Image: Supplied.

FHO Racing BMW’s Josh Brookes was dealt his share of challenges at the final round of the 2023 British Superbike Championship (BSB), but the Australian pushed through to conclude the year with three top 10 results at Brands Hatch and P7 in the standings.

A fall in FP1 left Brookes on the back foot, with a mechanical issue then in qualifying meaning he couldn’t set a proper time and had to line-up 18th on the grid.

The determined number 25 clawed his way forward to a solid seventh in the opening encounter, and concluded the series with 8-9 results in races two and three on Sunday.

“I started the last round in a difficult fashion, I came off the bike in first practice which was wet and I got a bit bashed up, bruised and carried some discomfort throughout the weekend, however we pushed on and made good progress through the rest of the practice sessions,” explained Brookes.

“It’s been difficult this weekend, the weather has been wet and it’s been super cold, so it’s been hard to evaluate the bike and confirm settings with any changes we made. It started raining just before qualifying and we had to go out in the wet and I had high expectations to achieve something good in that one. However, the bike stopped and I didn’t get a qualifying time, so had to start the first race from 18th.

“I made good progress in the race and ended up seventh, which doesn’t sound great but it’s a good improvement from 18th on the grid! We made some changes for this morning’s warm-up, and it was really cold, so again we couldn’t evaluate any of those changes. We got a fairly good start and just faded a little towards the end of the race and lost a few positions, which was quite frustrating.

“In the final race, we had strong pace early on and were in the bunch with the leading riders, but again faded towards the end and lost some speed. I’d like to thank everyone; all the supporters the team sponsors the fans – everyone who has put something into the team and hopefully next year we can get some better results and fight for the championship.”

Despite battling challenging moments or circumstances at times throughout the year, Brookes still displayed promise with eight podiums and two race wins to his credit. He will continue with the FHO Racing BMW team through the 2024 BSB season.