Josh Brookes left Knockhill frustrated after being caught up in a number of incidents during race two which dropped him down the field. This came after an impressive ride to fifth earlier in the day.
The Relentless Suzuki rider held off Michael Laverty in a last lap race to the line to claim the position, but a series of accidents in race two set him back and he was forced to battle his way back up to 13th.
Brookes had hoped to close in on the championship contenders but the poor result in race two has kept him 22 points adrift, and the Australian was annoyed not to have made up more ground.
“I have to be honest and say I’m coming away from Knockhill very frustrated after we looked to be making progress throughout practice and even into race one. We are still making minor adjustments to get the Suzuki to suit my style, but I’m beginning to rediscover my confidence and was looking for a stronger result in race two. Unfortunately a stop-start race two with a number of incidents forced me to the back of the pack and I had to fight through to score just a few points. Someone said I was lucky to stay upright, but I don’t see much luck in finishing so far back.”
Team manager Philip Neill shared his frustration and admitted that more testing is required before the GSX-R1000 is able to challenge for podium finishes.
“It’s been a frustrating weekend all round for us. Josh has seen his run of bad luck continue at Knockhill where in all honesty, we did expect to see a turnaround. He was not far off the pace but again a couple of crashes made our weekend more difficult than it should have been. Race one was a solid result and in race two nothing went his way. It’s clear to see we have not yet found the pace we are looking for from Josh so it’s time to hit the test track and find a solution.”
