Milwaukee Yamaha’s Josh Brookes survived three crashes in ‘lethal’ conditions during today’s MCE Brands Hatch British Superbike qualifying and still set pole position for tomorrow’s opening race at the Kent circuit.
Brookes went down twice in the first 15 minute session, giving his crew a lot of work to do, before tip-toeing his way through qualifying two and three, setting a 55’093 to go three-quarters of a second quicker than Ryuichi Kiyonari in second, himself two tenths ahead of John Hopkins.
Brookes, who rode his YZF-R1 for the first ever time in the rain this morning, then went down again on his last lap but so did Hopkins and Kiyonari so parc ferme, usually a place of shiny metal, was devoid of bikes as they were in various vans.
“This morning was my first experience in the wet on the Milwaukee Yamaha and we were in and out of the pits maybe four or five times but started to find some real strong direction and I was second fastest, knee on the ground and I thought everything was going to plan,” said Brookes, speaking at Brands.
“I went out in qualifying and I don’t know what they have done with the track but it’s lethal. I rode around the last corner with half throttle and half the lean angle, and I fell off. Immediately, I thought that was qualifying over and I would be starting at the back of the grid.
“I got it back to the pits and got it cleared, said to the guys to put in a fresh rear as I thought there was something wrong with it and I crashed again. Again, I got it across the track, the boys did a fantastic job as they had to replace the seat unit and fairing.
Brookes appealed to race organisers to find an alternative to the detergent put down to clean up fuel and lubricant spills, saying it is easier to ride around a patch of oil.
“In second and third qualifying, I was just trying to survive because as much as I wanted to set fast laptimes, every lap was heart-in-the-mouth. I would rather ride across a patch of oil than deal with the soap they put down as it’s too hard and too much to risk," he said.
“One patch of oil you can sit the bike up and go in a straight line to pass it but with that soap you don’t know where the grip it, it’s a gamble. But having said that, I am standing in P1, there are three crashes to the bike and one I landed on my head, so I’ve wrecked a helmet. I am grateful to get this place to make it up to the team.”
