Milwaukee Yamaha’s Josh Brookes will not return to the Isle of Man in 2015 as team boss Shaun Muir Muir believes the development plan for the new YZF-R1 dictates the team need to concentrate on circuit racing.

Brookes, who is a fan of road racing and the freedom it gives, will be part of the official Yamaha team at next year’s Suzuka Eight-Hours and will also take part in a couple of World Superbike wildcards in the second half of next season.

“I worked very hard on Josh to get him to stay with us. There was no doubt that if he was staying in BSB that he would stay with us, which was good to hear. I know he wants to do the TT but his focus is going to be working very closely with the factory,” said Muir, speaking to bikesportnews.com.

“We have made a package for him to do these wildcards, and we have given him options in his contract to go to WSBK with the factory supported team whoever that may be. For that reason we want to keep him sharp and on the money.

“Our relationship is such that the factory in Japan has made it very clear that the focus on short-circuit racing will be the British Superbike championship, which is fantastic for us and the BSB championship. There is going to be a high level of input from Japan.”

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