Reigning British Superbike Champion Josh Brookes will make the switch to back to World Superbikes in 2016 after signing to ride for the Milwaukee BMW team alongside former MotoGP man Karel Abraham.
The Australian dominated BSB in 2015 and now a change of manufacturer by his SMR team means Brookes is in with the big boys and is taking everything that made him champion in 2015 with him – except the bike which becomes a factory-supported S1000RR.
“I am very pleased not just be in WSBK, but with an opportunity to go back with the team, environment and mechanics I am happy with. It’s not often you get a ride in that position,” Brookes told BSN on his last visit to England.
“It will be the first time I have raced a BMW but we have some great backing from BMW and it is an exciting time for me and the team. I think we will be working in kind of the same way as we did this year and going from the ground up but there will be a lot more parts, for example, available from the off.
“This year there were meant to be more materials such as swing arms, triple clamps, offsets, that sort of thing. But they were slow coming and the fuel tank and things we needed to change took longer. I think it will be down to the team to decide on how the bike will be prepared, decide with their rider what way they go, but if there are parts available, or they need or request parts, I think there will be more availablity than this year for example.”
Brookes will make his debut in front of a home crowd at Phillip Island next February but there is no advantage as the opposition have ridden more at the Australian track in past years than he has but he doesn’t think there will be any pressure.
“No pressure, I think it’ll be more important for me through testing and the build up process. That will be more important than the track at the first round. I don’t think the track is so important or particular for the first round. It’s more important on how the build up and preparation process goes.”
For more on this story, get Thursday’s issue of Bikesport News
