Milwaukee Yamaha’s Josh Brookes has hailed his maiden MCE British Superbike title as ‘amazing,’ and after trying to win the championship since he made his debut in the class back in 2009 it’s now mission accomplished for the Bringelly rider.
He took the opening race win at Brands Hatch, and he had already done enough throughout the rest of the season to clinch the series victory this afternoon.
Throughout the year Brookes has been locked in a battle with rival PBM Kawasaki’s Shane Byrne, but in the end Brookes came into the final round at the Kent track with a 47 point advantage over the quadruple-champ and all he needed to do was to win ahead of Byrne to clinch the series, and he did just that.
Brookes has dominated all season and has only been off the podium on two occasions - winning over half of the races this year. His Milwaukee team have worked hard on developing the R1 and the results in 2015 are proof of that.
“It’s amazing. For me I feel like that kid that grew up in Bringelly, a country town west of Sydney, and went to Bringelly Public School, and rode a dirt bike around in a field, and did it for fun, and then one day it was a race, and another race, and then it turned into a career,” said Brookes at the track.
“To be sat here next to Shakey and John Hopkins and be taking the British Championship is something that people have said over the years you’d never do and never get close to. I’ve always had some unknown desire since young age to pursue motorbikes as a career, so it’s not something I can put in words, but it’s something I feel and it feels great.
“Early this year I went to the German Championship, rode the IDM and during the race, I ended up third, I was in a battle with some other guys and I just thought, this is easy compared to racing against Shakey Byrne.
“When you race against a guy like this week in week out, it just toughens you up and it really is a challenge and every time you think that you’ve got an advantage, he puts something into the mix that makes you eat your words. I wasn’t at all surprised to see him come past.
“At the start of the race I did some good laps which on the dash looked like pretty good lap times and I could still hear this bike signing in my ears - it was Shakey right behind - and one lap he just sprung out from what seemed like nowhere and got past me.
“I tried a bunch of times to get back by, but I just didn’t seem to have the speed or the form in the early part of the race to keep that position and he kept fighting back, which again is what you would completely expect from Shakey.
“By the mid part of the race, I felt like I could maintain the speed and get into a rhythm where I felt like I had an advantage, and I thought, I’ve got to pass, put a hard lap in, and try and make a gap and then keep doing strong laps - that’s the only way to fight him off. It sounds like he’s a dragon or something! Once I got in front I really tried hard, I risked a lot, but I gained a lot, so I’m really pleased.”
