Milwaukee Yamaha BSB front-runner Josh Brookes upped his pace in the second Suzuka Eight-Hours test and was the most consistent in terms of fast laps of the works Yamaha riders.

Brookes, who is in a three-man which which is completed by Kats Nakasuga and fellow Aussie and PBM MotoGP rider Broc Parkes, spent two days evaluating various setups with the World Endurance R1 and set his fastest time on a rear tyre which had done 19 laps and a front that had completed a whopping 42.

The Bringelly man is still slightly compromised by having to adapt to the Japanese rider’s settings, which don’t suit the way Brookes likes to ride, but he believes that being able to run in the low-2’09s bracket for the whole race should stand them in good stead.

“Fuel consumption is a bit of an issue but the R1 has always been a thirsty bike so we have to work around that. The setup and laptimes we were able to do are positive, especially as we can do them for the whole race, and I only had used rubber to work with,” said Brookes, speaking to bikesportnews.com.

“Kats went out right at the end and did his lap on a qualifier but both Broc and I are happy with the progress we have made with setup so far. There are still a few things I would like to change with the rear of the bike before we race but we will see how that goes. There are a lot of variables with settings for this race.”