MCE British Superbike star Josh Brookes bagged a podium finish in the first race at the Assen IDM Superbike round today, battling with former World Superbike star Lorenzo Lanzi, German wunderkind Markus Reiterberger and Xavi Fores.

Brookes, who was riding for the MGM Yamaha squad as a stand in for their two injured riders, got off to a slow start in the first race but stuck in some fast laps to recover to third place with a severely worn rear Pirelli.

In the second outing, Brookes was again in the hunt for the podium and was in the leading group covered by half a second but with three laps to go, Fores managed to make his way past as Brookes’ lap time dropped off dramatically after the tyre spun on the rim.

“In the first race I made a small mistake with the lights, because I went so fast, but over the race distance that wasn’t such an important amount of time. I didn’t find the grip as the lap times I had in qualifying. The grip was not the same and the tyre was spinning a lot, so I couldn’t improve the third position. I kept pushing until the end and was hoping maybe the front two would also losing some speed at the end of the race, but it was not enough for me to catch them,” said Brookes.

“In the second race I got a bad start, but it wasn't working me. The tyres felt better than race one so I was able to ride faster. At some point early in the race the rear tyre spun on the rim and a vibration started. I could keep pushing for a while but then I couldn't continue at that lap time so I started to drop back and I could do nothing more.“