Milwaukee Yamaha enjoyed more podium success at Snetterton today in round four of the MCE British Superbike Championship.
Josh Brookes bounced back from a second-row qualifying position to finish on the podium in both of todays races, with a couple of second place finishes.
After initially getting a bad start in race one Brookes fought his way back through the field and, following a good battle with Jason O’Halloran, secured second position behind Shane Byrne.
Looking back at the first race, Brookes said: “I definitely didn’t get the start I wanted in race one; as I let the clutch out, it was bunny hopping and I lost all my momentum. Going into the first turn, I got bunched up then – there were a lot of different bars bumping. In turn two, it was still a bit squirrelly, and I kind of got stuck in a position behind Stuart Easton for a while.
“He’s really strong on the brakes, and I struggled to find a way past him. I stayed there far too long, but once I did make the pass I could move forwards and make some passes easier, but we had a strong end to the race and I was happy to be back on the podium.”
The Australian made a much better start in race two and was able to keep within touching distance of Byrne for the opening couple of laps.
Brookes suddenly looked like he had an issue with his bike however and fell back behind the likes of O’Halloran and the two Tyco BMWs.
Despite looking like he was about to retire from the race, Brookes was able to find a solution and soon found some power once again from his Yamaha and worked his way back up to another second place finish.
Afterwards, Brookes was able to explain the problem: “We had a bit of an issue in the second race, we have limited electronics but where they work most is on engine braking and mid-way through that race it kept locking up the tyre, not completely but skidding into the turns and I was missing my apexes and losing power. If I rode in my normal way it would have caused me more problems as I would have gone further backwards as you would have seen, but I figured out a way to ride without using the engine to slow the bike up on the way in to the corners.
“I was able to come back through the pack to come back to second and I was really fortunate to make the end of the race as at one point I thought I might have to pit. I am really pleased though that we could make it a double podium.”
Broc Parkes also enjoyed a rather successful race day after fighting back from a poor qualifying session, in-which he was one of the unlucky riders to be caught out by the rain.
Following an impressive 11th place finish in race one, Parkes made a great start in race two and found himself up in fourth place after the first lap.
The 33-year-old was able to battle with the frontrunners for the opening few laps and even managed to get the better of Brookes at one point.
Unfortunately he was unable to keep the same pace throughout the race and ended up falling back down the order, eventually finishing in 11th once again.
Looking back over the races, Parkes said: “The first race we started in 19th and got off to a good start, but we got hit in the second corner and went back down the pack and had to climb my way through and I was happy with my pace to finish eleventh and to catch up the time.
“In race two we could be a lot stronger from seventh and I got a blinder of a start and got up to fourth position and was hanging in there and thought I had a good pace. The safety car didn’t really help me and I didn’t get quick enough off the last corner when it came in and then two guys came under me and from there I didn’t quite have the pace and I felt like I lost a lot of rear grip and basically went back. The good thing was I was running near the front and I need to work on that and come back stronger.”
Today’s podium finishes mean that Brookes has now moved up into second place in the championship, 17 points behind Byrne and 16 ahead of James Ellison.
