Reigning MCE British Superbike Champion Josh Brookes flies into Spain on this evening to begin the second part of his World Superbike story as he and Milwaukee BMW team-mate Karel Abraham made their debuts at the Jerez test.
Brookes has spent the last couple of months at home in Australia, desperately trying not to relax as he juggles several projects, but says he is ready to get back in the saddle and start a new chapter.
The Bringelly man last rode at Jerez in the Spanish championship at the end of 2007 but says it won’t take him long to refamiliarise himself with the Andalucian track.
“The main thing is to give the team the chance to run through their processes, intially. They are going to have a load of new stuff to work out, stuff to some degree they haven’t used before and this will be the first time out, so the key will be giving them the freedom to do what they need to do first,” said Brookes, speaking to bikesportnews.com before he took off.
“When they have done a load of that, then it will be my time. The situation will tell the story I think. The bike will predict what we do, day by day, hour by hour. Tyres and suspension will stay the same from the start of the year. The main thing is getting the systems right and getting as much time on the track as possible - then we can work on understanding our strengths and weaknesses. There’s no way of dressing it up, it’s pretty straighforward.”
This year will see a return to full electronics instead of the spec-ECU Brookes has used since 2012 in BSB, and he is looking forward to that.
“I think electronics have come a long way in the last five years and it isn’t a problem at all. All the progress that has been made can only have made things better and easier. It may be more complex for the data guys but it’s easier for the rider.
Brookes has had one ride out at Eastern Creek on an S1000RR but has been using the Superbike on the road. However, he says the racebikes are so far removed from what you can buy in the shops, it won’t have made much difference.
“I did 500 kilometres today on it, actually. The racebikes are a long way from what you can do with a road bike. It’s nice to have it for familiarity but other than that there is no real advantage, it’s just too different from anything I am going to race on. It’s more important to stay fit and alert so I’m fully ready.”
bikesportnews.com will bring you the full monty from the Jerez test, starting Tuesday morning
