Last year’s fastest Isle of Man TT newcomer Josh Brookes is playing down his ambitions at this year’s event, saying that some more top-ten finishes will be satisfying enough for him.

The Milwaukee Yamaha man finished 2013 with a 127.6mph lap and tenth in the Dainese Superbike TT at his first attempt while a mechanical put him out of the Senior. This year he will add Supersport duties to his roster but both he and team-mate Ian Hutchinson will not race Superstock.

“My goal last year was to be safe. I have been riding bikes on the road since I got my licence, so I have had those moments where you go into a corner and find some water or gravel and your heart is in your mouth,” said Brookes, speaking at the TT launch.

“I knew I didn’t want to have that at the TT as it is so uncomfortable and I managed not to have any of those fear moments. To get the fastest newcomers was great and I put that down to the homework. I did 100 laps in a hire car before I turned a wheel on the racebike.

“Predicting finishes is difficult. It’s like a business where you forecast your potential based on previous years. I have only one one year so that’s not a lot of statistics on which to work out where I should be so as long as I can get better than a top ten I will be satisfied.”

Talking about the furore that surrounded his team when the Superbike rules where changed, Brookes reckons he remained quietly confident while at home in Australia.

“I remained optimistic through the whole process. I thought, initially, it was quite a strange situation and I didn’t agree with it at all but because Yamaha are such a big brand and Ian is such a big name - Hutchinson has a lot of letters in it - I though there was no chance they wouldn’t make it work.”