Milwaukee Yamaha’s Josh Brookes was close to lap record pace in a Supersport test at Cadwell Park on Wednesday as he prepares for a return to the middleweight class at the upcoming North West 200 and Isle of Man TT.
The Australian rider hasn’t raced in the 600cc category since his finished third in the World Supersport series six years ago, taking a memorable win at Donington Park as well as five other podiums.
“Josh was ridiculously fast seeing as he hasn’t ridden a Supersport bike since 2008. I was clicking off the laps on the stopwatch and couldn’t believe what I was looking at,” said crew chief Mick Shanley.
“He was getting close to the lap record pace and using old tyres we took from Andrew Reid’s FFX Superstock 600 bike. We also did some work on the Superbikes for the TT with different engine specs for both Josh and Hutchy.
“Ian will run the Marelli electronics at both the big roads events while Josh his sticking to his BSB-spec electronics but we’re not 100 per cent decided on the engine spec yet.”