Milwaukee Yamaha’s Josh Brookes is insisting that his super quick lap times that he set during the official MCE British Superbike test session at Oulton Park are not just positive for him, but for his entire team and are helping them feel even more confident as they approach the third round of the series.
Brookes broke his own lap record during the final test session at the Cheshire circuit, with a 1’34.850, going 0.6 seconds under his best time at the track. But the Bringelly rider feels that the fast lap times take the pressure off his crew, and show that they are working in the right direction.
He now hopes to replicate his fast pace during the races at Oulton Park next Monday. His team did experiment on making some changes to his R1 during the test yesterday, including adjusting the seat height and adaptations were made to the wheel base.
“When we started the first session the bike was the same as Brands, all we did was set the gearing to suit the track. Initially we changed the seat height and I wasn’t quite happy with that but then we changed it again - but I still don’t think we have the right position as when I go taller the foam feels too soft,” said Brookes, speaking to bikesportnews.com, from the circuit.
“In the next session we made some more changes to make me feel a bit more confident and we went up with the folk springs then we went back to where we were. In the last session we did a couple of things and we made the wheel base shorter. I liked the grip feeling, but the bike got kind of nervous with it being shorter and it wheelied a bit more.
“The times are not just positive for me, but as a group as well. We all need to be confident and happy to come to the race track, and to come away from here with the fastest time is positive for everyone, and everyone works hard. I want to like the track, and I set the lap record here last year, but I am still trying to find the love for it, as I don’t really like the track that much. But I want to - if I didn’t have to race here and come here on a track day I would have a ball, but racing here is really tough.”
