Tyco Suzuki's Josh Brookes showed fighting qualities during yesterday's Bank Holiday British Superbike Championship eighth round at Cadwell Park, taking away second place in race two and an impressive fourth place from the opening encounter after qualifying 12th at the Lincolnshire circuit.
The Australian maintains second place in the current points standings, also keeping the gap in podium credits to series leader Tommy Hill at a respectable level, as the series edges ever closer the Title Fighters' Showdown, commencing at Assen on September 21-23rd.
Josh Brookes:
"It's a weekend that could have turned out very difficult for us as a team, but with a big team effort we turned it round and that second race grid position made my job that little bit easier to chase a podium. I made two good racing passes on Lowes and Laverty in that second race, which pleased me, as it's not so easy to make passes at Cadwell. The podium credits were really important and now we have a busy week testing at both Donington and Assen with a GSX-R day at Cadwell thrown into the mix - but I like busy. It's good to be back racing."
Alastair Seeley had a tough weekend at Cadwell, which he will openly admit is not one of his favourite circuits. In race one he was pushed wide on lap three and had to fight back from 19th place to take 14th at the flag. In race two he went one place better after starting from row five.
Alastair Seeley:
"In race one I got pushed onto the grass and fought back for some points. In race two I lost some ground at the beginning but again fought back for some points. I was picking off riders at the end of both races but it wasn't a great weekend for me in terms of chasing that top six spot. We now have one last thrown of the dice at Donington."
Philip Neill - Team Manager:
"I'll be honest and say that we had a somewhat shaky start to the weekend. We identified a problem after qualifying that the boys rectified for Josh before morning warm up which paid off with the third quickest time. We knew the first race would be difficult coming through the pack and Josh did a good job to take fourth while staying out of trouble. Race two was a bit of a battle and after a slow start he was able to push his way through to second with some impressively consistent lap times. Alastair was again a bit unlucky getting pushed wide and then having to try and come through the pack in both races, but I'm sure he'll shine at Donington."
Race 1 Results: 1 Tommy Hill (Yamaha), 2 Alex Lowes (Honda), 3 Michael Laverty (Honda), 4 Danny Buchan (Kawasaki), 5 Jon Kirkham (Honda), 6 Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki), 7 Karl Harris (Kawasaki), 8 James Westmoreland (Honda), 9 Tommy Bridewell (BMW), 10 Peter Hickman (BMW). 14 Alastair Seeley (Tyco Suzuki).
Race 2 Results: 1 Tommy Hill (Yamaha), 2 Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki), 3 Michael Laverty (Honda), 4 Alex Lowes (Honda), 5 Tommy Bridewell (BMW), 6 James Westmoreland (Honda), 7 Ian Lowry (Honda), 8 Peter Hickman (BMW), 9 Karl Harris (Kawasaki), 10 Michael Rutter (Kawasaki). 13 Alastair Seeley (Tyco Suzuki).
Championship Points: 1 Tommy Hill 316pts, 2 Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki) 276, 3 Shane Byrne 255. 4 Michael Laverty 204, 5 Tommy Bridewell 142, 6 Alex Lowes 125, 7 Ian Lowry 119, 8 Nori Haga 113, 9 James Westmoreland 104, 10 Chris Walker 100, 11 Alastair Seeley (Tyco Suzuki) 95.
