Former MCE British Superbike champion, Josh Brookes has admitted that the points that he bagged today during the Assen double-header could prove to be the ‘most vital’ of the series so far.
The Anvil Hire TAG Yamaha rider finished the opening race in fifth and then went even better in the final event to finish on the podium in second, after out-pacing title chasers, JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s Leon Haslam and Be Wiser Ducati’s Shane Byrne.
That second place finish could prove crucial for Brookes, as he looked like he was on course to finish in a top five position once again. But during the last few laps at the Dutch track he excelled and made sure that he pushed his R1 as hard as he could and snatched points away from Haslam, as the pair fought to take the second step of the rostrum, which ultimately went to Brookes.
The Bringelly native has a total of 580 points, and is 32 adrift of current leader, Haslam in the overall BSB standings. But Brookes only has a tiny majority over Byrne, with only one point separating the rivals.
“Most of that race I was squeezing everything out of myself and the bike that it had and I was getting nowhere and I felt the only thing I could focus on was not making any mistakes,” said Brookes, speaking at the track.
“Then I saw a few holes opening up and any opportunity is an opportunity so you have to go for it and you can’t hesitate and there is a British championship on the line so if I hesitate for a second someone will be coming past me, so I have to be edging forward.
“I thought it is worth a try and get ahead and see because at that point in the race I felt I would be the same pace as everyone else so it was worth a try to see if I could run at the front.
“It wasn’t a win today but it was as good as a win today and I had my main championship rivals behind me and although it is a small number of points to recover I will take any points at this stage and see what will happen in the last round. Anything can happen and maybe these points are the most vital of the championship yet.”