Milwaukee Yamaha’s Josh Brookes made sure he didn’t make anymore mistakes, after an initial small crash in the opening MCE British Superbike free practice session at Assen, and for the Bringelly rider it was a faultless performance this afternoon, as he bettered his FP1 lap by over one second.
Brookes has already visited the Dutch circuit this year, as he took part in the IDM Championship a few weeks ago. That recent experience has definitely paid off as he was able to lap a 1’37.072 in FP2.
He is the current championship leader, on 533 points but rival, PBM Kawasaki’s Shane Byrne is only two points behind Brookes in the standings, and was the second fastest Showdown rider this afternoon, in sixth on the timing-screens. But for Brookes he still had that one second advantage over the quadruple-champ and is remaining focused on the job ahead, which is to continue to win races.
“I was quite surprised this morning as I slipped off the paint line on the edge of the track because I was not focussed on what I was doing, thinking ahead about the marshals on the track. I had an eye on the on the track and drifted too wide – I was a little tentative coming back onto the track afterwards and it gave the guys a lot of work on the bike, for something that was avoidable.” said Brookes.
“Then it was a case of not making any mistakes and to go to the top of the session, then after the rain in the afternoon I sat time out, waiting for the track to dry. I was able to go out, get into the rhythm that I know that I can here and I did that.
“I am just focussed on myself - everyone will be trying to do their best, either to try for the title, or with jobs for next season in mind. I will be working hard, concentrating, trying to give my team the feed back to keep on improving the bike, trying to win again.”
