Brookes: People expect victories at PBM…

Josh Brookes is pleased to be have met lofty expectations so early into his tenure with the Paul Bird Motorsport team after notching up a pair of wins during a dominant Bennetts British Superbike Championship display at Oulton Park.

Comfortably quickest in each dry weather session this weekend, Brookes proved similarly untouchable come race day as he led all 17 laps of each race to record a haul of 50 points two weeks after technical issues left him with a ‘double zero’ at the Silverstone opener.

A significant moment for the team after securing a victory for the new Ducati Panigale V4 R in only its second outing, for Brookes it also signals a landmark success with victories 37 and 38 marking his first as a PBM Be Wiser rider.

“When you ride for the PBM team, people expect you to win and it’s hard to maintain that level, so I’m delighted to get my first wins for them at round two, especially as Oulton Park is their local circuit.

“Neither race was easy, but we made good progress at the test last month and it meant we could come here this weekend and just make small refinements to the bike rather than big changes which enabled me to be quick from the off.

“My pace was stronger in the second race and although Tommy came with me again, I was able to break him in the final third and it’s always nice going into the last lap with a bit of a buffer.

“What happened at Silverstone was just one of those things and I think a few people were a bit more down than perhaps they should have been, but this is the perfect way to bounce back.”

The result sees Brookes leap up the points’ table to fifth overall, just 14 points shy of the top spot occupied by Tarran Mackenzie and Tommy Bridewell.