Tyco Suzuki's Josh Brookes had to contend with brake fade and then turning his adjuster the wrong way in the first of three MCE British Superbike outings at Brands Hatch which meant he was out of stopping power going into one of the track's quickest corners.

The Bringelly man found himself with the front brake lever coming back to the stop as he went into Hawthorns and just about kept it all the right way up but the error meant he lost the tow to race winner Shane Byrne, who increased his series lead to 18 points.

“I got a reasonable jump but got boxed in a bit at turn one, then made good progress. I rode strong for a while then when the brake started to fade I adjusted the adjuster, but it was the wrong way, which made me run into Hawthorn carrying way too much speed," said Brookes.

"I got it sorted and clawed my way back but the damage had already been done. I did make some good passes, but when it started to rain at the end I really needed some more laps. It was getting pretty slick out there and I was surprised to be third at the end when Alex fell. It’s not a satisfactory result but the pressure is now off me and I’ll just go out and do my best in tomorrow’s two races and hopefully that is enough.”