Anvil Hire TAG Yamaha’s Josh Brookes can still mathematically win his second MCE British Superbike title after a third place finish in the opening Brands Hatch race.
The 2015 champion is 29 points adrift of series leader, JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s Leon Haslam in the overall standings, and admitted that he did not get a good start after the race one restart and felt that Shane Byrne and Christian Iddon were able to gain pace, with Brookes being unable to bridge the gap then to the leading pair.
Brookes was able to make a pass on Haslam to gain more points, but will have an advantage going into race two as he will start on pole. The R1 rider did have a few issues with the bike which he hopes will be better on Sunday.
"I didn't get a good start in the second part of the race, I got baulked on the first lap and then it took a while to get past Leon and by that time Shakey and Christian had cleared off,” said Brookes after race one.
“If I was with them at the start I probably could have hung in there but with that gap and the way they were riding I was unable to bridge the gap. Starting from pole is always nice, it's a very small advantage but
it's most definitely worth having. So hopefully things are better for tomorrow and we have a continual race, not an interrupted one."
