Josh Brookes finished off the 2013 British Superbike season with a dominant hat-trick of wins from two pole positions at Brands Hatch on his Tyco Suzuki GSX-R1000.
Brookes followed up his win on Saturday with one of the greatest victories witnessed at a Brands Hatch BSB event, coming from 16 seconds behind to win Sunday’s opening encounter.
Brookes then went on to take a lights-to-flag third race win from pole position, securing him third place in this year’s championship on the final day of racing for 2013. His young team-mate PJ Jacobsen was fifth in the opening BSB race and retired from Sunday’s second race with visor problems in the wet conditions, which was disappointing for the 20-year-old who qualified alongside Brookes on the front-row in second place.
Taylor Mackenzie had a storming start in Sunday’s British Supersport race and, having briefly led his first race in the class, he was comfortably mixing it at the front. Unfortunately the conditions caught him out and he slid off unhurt, but showed great promise all day on the Tyco Suzuki GSX-R600.
Josh Brookes:
“My attitude was that the championship was out of our hands going into Brands, so I went into the weekend wanting to finish the year on a high. I wanted to try and elevate the image of the team and the spirit of the mechanics and crew as we’ve had a couple of tough weekends. There was no game plan, I just wanted to do my best for the team and all our sponsors, so two pole positions and three wins on the Tyco Suzuki was ideal. I want to thank the team and everyone involved for their support this year. We’ve finished the year on a high going into the off-season and a long winter away from racing so I’m pretty happy.”
PJ Jacobsen:
“The weekend wasn’t so bad for me with some good performances but the final race made me pretty mad when my visor steamed up and I couldn’t see. It’s not a great way to end the year but I just want to thank Philip and the team for everything, as they’ve done a great job and I’ve really enjoyed riding the Tyco Suzuki GSX-R1000.”
Taylor Mackenzie:
“I was second in warm up on Sunday morning which gave confidence for the race and the plan was to finish the season and have a good dig. I got a really good start and went round the outside of O’Halloran and when I got to the front, I felt really comfortable in second place. Even when Cooper was on the front I felt comfortable and was confident I could go with him, but I just out-braked myself a little bit. It was damp off line and I lost the front, but all-in-all it’s been a good weekend. I’ve really enjoyed riding the GSX-R600 this season in a year when the Supersport class has been really tough. Hopefully we can do it all again next year.”
Philip Neill – Team Manager:
“What a way to end our season. The BSB Championship really does present the most exciting racing and today was no different. Josh once again proved his capability by mastering the damp conditions and the GSX-R1000 worked perfectly throughout the weekend. It is of course a shame that our championship hopes where realistically over before we reached Brands; however, our first BSB treble victory certainly leaves us feeling positive.
“PJ had another solid weekend and I’m sure if he hadn’t suffered with a misted visor in race three he would have challenged for a podium-finish after starting from second place on the grid. Again Taylor enjoyed a largely positive weekend even though he slipped-off in the second race. Unfortunately these things happen, but it was nice to see Taylor have a go and actually take the race lead briefly on the GSX-R600.
“I would like to take the opportunity to thank each and every member of our team and also our sponsors, Tyco Security Products, Suzuki and all our loyal partners for their continued support. I would also like to congratulate former TAS Racing team member Tom Sykes on becoming World Superbike Champion today.”
British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch, Race 1:
1. Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki) 2. Alex Lowes (Samsung Honda) +0.968s 3. Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +5.709s 4. Josh Waters (Halsall Racing Kawasaki) +16.821s 5. PJ Jacobsen (Tyco Suzuki) +22.890s 6. Tommy Bridewell (Milwaukee Yamaha) +24.345s 7. Chris Walker (Quattro Plant Bournemouth Kawasaki) +25.538s 8. James Westmoreland (Buildbase BMW) +27.731s 9. Lee Costello (Halsall Racing Kawasaki) +29.917s 10. Michael Rutter (Bathams Honda) +30.394s
British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch, Race 2:
1. Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki) 2. Lee Costello (Halsall Racing Kawasaki) +0.196s 3. James Ellison (Milwaukee Yamaha) +0.728s 4. James Westmoreland (Buildbase BMW) +9.127s 5. Chris Walker (Quattro Plant Bournemouth Kawasaki) +16.826s 6. PJ Jacobsen (Tyco Suzuki) +17.198s 7. Dan Linfoot (Lloyds British GBmoto Honda) +30.805s 8. Jon Kirkham (Buildbase BMW) +41.399s 9. Jakub Smrz (Padgetts Honda) +48.080s 10. Freddy Foray (Samsung Honda) +51.836s
British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch, Race 3:
1. Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki) 2. Alex Lowes (Samsung Honda) +1.185s 3. Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +2.587s 4. Tommy Bridewell (Halsall Racing Kawasaki) +4.869s 5. James Ellison (Milwaukee Yamaha) +13.521s 6. Jon Kirkham (Buildbase BMW) +16.282s 7. James Westmoreland (Buildbase BMW) +16.282s 8. Josh Waters (Halsall Racing Kawasaki) +17.186s 9. Chris Walker (Quattro Plant Bournemouth Kawasaki) +17.387s 10. Dan Linfoot (Lloyds British GBmoto Honda) +20.027s
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship final standings:
1. Alex Lowes (Samsung Honda) 643 2. Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) 636 3. Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki) 621 4. James Ellison (Milwaukee Yamaha) 589 5. James Westmoreland (Buildbase BMW) 564 6. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Samsung Honda) 522
