WSB: Brookes happy with 12th after technical setbacks

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2015 MCE British Superbike Champion Josh Brookes overcame a plethora of technical difficulties to walk away with a rewarding 12th place finish in this weekend’s opening round of the 2017 Superbike World Championship.

Having acquired the YZF-R1 he won the 2015 British title aboard, Brookes re-built the bike to a spec be preferred in his garage at home in Australia and took part in just a handful of tests before racing at Phillip Island against some of the best Superbike riders and factory teams in the world.

While the weekend presented a number of technical challenges which saw Brookes retire from the opening race and his team work tirelessly until the pitlane opened for the second, the Aussie was thrilled to take 12th place before heading back to Britain to test the Anvil Hire TAG Yamaha he’ll race in BSB.

“It’s disappointing we couldn’t finish race one and get a result that justifies everyone’s efforts but despite our challenges to come away with 12th on Sunday and in front of some of the factory teams was a beautiful result,” he said. “If you had seen what was happening in our garage minutes before the pit lane opened you wouldn’t have believed we would even be starting.

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“To be a wildcard you’re always going to be up against it and after our race engine went in testing we had to re-evaluate what we could achieve. Looking back there’s a lot of things I’d do differently and a lot of what ifs, the results could have been better but considering what we overcame we’re more than happy and I want to say thank you to everyone involved.

“There was a great vibe in our garage as we had support from a variety of people this weekend. From sponsors, friends getting on the tools last minute, to our mis-match of mechanics with different skill sets. Pretty much everyone there were volunteers and it was all hands on deck. Everyone worked together to get the job done and I’m really grateful for that.”

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