Relentless Suzuki by TAS Racing's Josh Brookes took his first podium for Suzuki at the Snetterton 300 British Superbike Championship round on Sunday with second place in race two, jumping into a provisional Shoot Out top-six position.
Josh Brookes:
"Now I've got something to smile about! In race one we just didn't have the grip we'd been having in qualifying and free practice. I knew from lap one that we had a problem, but I did the best I could, although I was disappointed as we had been so strong up to that point. I really do believe we could have had the same result in race one that we had in race two. I was riding past pit wall looking at the guys knowing they would be thinking, 'oh no our luck hasn't changed', so there was a sigh of relief when I came in and told them what was wrong.
"Race two is the first opportunity I've had this year to show people what I can really do on the GSX-R1000 Suzuki and there's more to come. We really do have more room for improvement. I did expect to move forward this weekend but jumping into the top six is a bonus. We've just got to get out there now and make the results and the rest will happen."
Philip Neill - Team Manager:
"We're back in the hunt in the Superbike class and what is pleasing is that Josh was able to ride at the front, well within his limits today. We could well have been up there in race one if we hadn't had a problem, but race two made up for it. It's been a fantastic weekend all round and with the pace he has shown I knew Josh was capable of fighting for podiums. It'll give him confidence especially coming away from the meeting in the top six. I have to thank my team for ten days of hard work in testing which enabled us to provide Josh with an easier bike to ride. We never doubted his ability; it was just a matter of getting everything to gel.
Snetterton Superbike Results:
British Superbike Race 1 [17 laps]: 1 John Hopkins [Suzuki] 31: 59.427; 2 Tommy Hill [Yamaha] +0.274; 3 Shane Byrne [Honda] +2.966; 4 Michael Laverty [Yamaha] +3.638; 5 Ryuichi Kiyonari [Honda] +4.199; 6 Jon Kirkham [Suzuki] +5.505; 7 Josh Brookes [Relentless Suzuki by TAS] +10.427; 8 Chris Walker [Kawasaki] +11.572; 9 Loris Baz [Yamaha] +11.792; 10 Peter Hickman [Honda] +13.909.
British Superbike Race 2 [9 lap re-start] 1 Ryuichi Kiyonari [Honda] 16: 4.190; 2 Josh Brookes [Relentless Suzuki by TAS] +0.810; 3 John Hopkins [Suzuki] +1.518; 4 Shane Byrne [Honda] +3.550; 5 Michael Laverty [Yamaha].+4.819; 6 Martin Jessopp [Ducati] +9.648; 7 Loris Baz [Yamaha] +9.815; 8 Chris Walker [Kawasaki] +16.360; 9 Ian Lowry [BMW] +18.208; 10 Jake Zemke [Honda] +20.145.
