Already boasting a well-established and documented racing career, Josh Brookes has just about come full circle since his 2004 Phillip Island debut wild card entry, at the age of 21 astride a CBR Supersport. However, this time he will be mounted on a machine that has a little more ‘poke’, in the form of his 2015 British Superbike Championship winning Yamaha YZF-R1M.
Motorcycling Australia briefly caught up with Brookes at the news of his wild card entry for the WSBK round at Phillip Island, to which he shared; “I’ve never felt like I’ve ever had the chance to really shine at Phillip Island, so when I was presented with the opportunity to ride my 2015 bike, I thought that his may be the perfect time to set things straight!
“I am really looking forward to riding the bike that I won the British Championship on in 2015. The Phillip Island round at the start of 2016 was a good round for me, but the bike (BMW RR) never got any better from there. I didn’t enjoy the rest of the season too much because the bike didn’t seem to improve over the year. I can’t wait to jump back on my old R1M again!” Josh excitedly finished.
Despite his relatively young age, Josh Brookes (33) is somewhat of an old hand when it comes to professional road racing. Time and time again, he has been hand selected by numerous teams to race for them in various capacities, which has seen the Sydney-sider compete in the British Superbike Championship, the Australian Superbike Championship, the World Superbike Championship, Josh even taking time out of his busy schedule to contest the sacred, Isle of Mann TT. Brookes has cemented his race craft over the majority of his life, his passion spanning the globe and a long list of motorcycle manufacturer teams that include BMW, Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Norton, Ducati and Suzuki.
“It was a hobby when I started racing bikes, that turned out to be something I was quite good at. I’ve been pushing and pursuing it as far as I can ever since. The BSB is where I’ve been for over seven years now, so I’ve actually been racing there (United Kingdom) longer than I have in Australia!
We asked the freshly confirmed 2017 WSBK wild card entry what the take-away moments of his 2016 season were. Brookes replied; “Aside from really enjoying my time on the track at Laguna Seca in California, Assen was my favourite race in 2016. Even though it was seriously wet, and even though I ended up crashing out due to an issue that arose from the pit stop, I managed to come from a qualifying position of 14th, to ride around everyone including the world champion at the time, and led the race despite those conditions. That has to be the highlight of 2016 for me.
Josh shared his thoughts with us on what it is like to ride in international competition, at a championship level, on some of the world’s fastest machinery available; he started “I think that the limit of a machine is the limit. What people can do on a machine also has its limits, and regardless of how many people are in the race grid, you only need two riders to create a challenge. As long as there is a person with equal machinery and equal ability you will find the limits quite easily. I am of the impression that no matter the Championship, be it BSB, ASBK, MotoGP or World Superbike, whoever is riding those bikes in those categories is riding them as fast as they can be ridden. I think the ultimate pace that you can get from a bike has just about been found in any of those series.” Brookes confirmed.
