Milwaukee Yamaha’s Broc Parkes has hailed his recent double arm-pump surgery as a ‘success,’ and that was clear to see during the MCE British Superbike qualifying session at Brands Hatch.
The Australian will start race one from the third row, which is his best qualifying grid position to date. He eased in to Q3 and will line up alongside Buildbase BMW’s Ryuichi Kiyonari and Moto Rapido Ducati’s John Hopkins on Sunday.
He had been suffering with arm-pump and it came to a head at Snetterton and the rider decided that he had to take action, so he visited the official MotoGP doctor who performed the operation on both arms.
“It got to the point where it was very easy to see at Snetterton that I had the pace and then I dropped back - and I went to see Dr (Xavier) Mir, the MotoGP official doctor in Barcelona,” said Parkes, speaking to bikesportnews.com at the track.
“The surgery has been a success - but I was a little concerned that I wouldn’t be ready for this weekend, as on Tuesday it was quite new. On the bike I didn’t have any arm-pump issues and I can pull that brake and it feels good.”
Top five is the aim for Parkes, but he is still waiting for parts for his R1 from the Yamaha factory, but he has improved throughout the year and now he has overcome his arm-pump problems he is aiming for some solid points this weekend at the Kent track.
“I was quite convinced I could get there (inside the top ten), and where I am is great and it is my best qualifier for the year and I can fight from there tomorrow.
“Everything is still all new for me, and I have struggled at times, but a lot of it has come from my arms, and coming from electronics to no electronics - but the tracks I know are coming up and hopefully I can show where I can be at the front.
“My side of the box is quite a few races behind Josh’s side. He has got a different tank and seat, that I have been waiting on and it’s not coming quick enough, but because I think I haven’t been quite there the main concentration has been on Josh as he is inside the top six and fighting for the championship.
“But when the parts come I know I can become more competitive, as at the moment the tank is quite big and I can’t move on the bike as I want to - as I am quite short. I want a smaller tank, and the new swing arm can be longer and I want my bike to be longer and at the moment I can’t. I want to be in the top five in the races tomorrow, and that is my goal here this weekend.”
