Josh Brookes believes that he has made a vital breakthrough with the Suzuki GSX R-1000 which should enable him to battle at the front at Snetterton tomorrow. The Australian has struggled this year, particularly in qualifying but enjoyed a positive test at Kirkistown last week.
That seems to have reaped rewards as Brookes qualified on the front row in fourth position for tomorrow's opening race, and claimed he is happier with the bike than at any stage this season.
“I’m a lot happier and we’re now on the comeback trail. I know the bike’s got it and I’ve hopefully still got some talent to show and we’ve just posted our best qualifying session of the season. We are already getting more out of the bike since the Kirkistown test, which has proved very beneficial, so I can now be more aggressive with my riding. We’re starting to move forward. The changes we made at Kirkistown have transferred well to Snetterton and it has really given us great direction with the bike and opened our eyes. It was great to see P1 at times on my board today, but our race tyre pace is good and consistent so yeah… if the weather is kind, we’re in for a good race day.”
Relentless Suzuki team manager Philip Neill is also expecting the bike to perform well in race trim, and is eyeing a podium finish or two tomorrow.
“It’s good to be back where we should be on the front row in BSB. We’re back in the ballpark and will be looking to fight for those podium positions tomorrow. Josh has posted good times on race tyres so that’s a big positive for tomorrow also, but he needs to be smart and hope for that little bit of luck.”
