In a Bennetts British Superbike career that currently spans a decade, Josh Brookes is set to make his 250th BSB start in the second race at Brands Hatch this weekend. Here are some of the Australian’s key statistics from those ten years:
His 248 race starts so far have seen him win 46 races, the second highest total in BSB history behind Shane Byrne’s 85 race wins.
He has finished on the podium on 130 occasions, which is again the second highest total in BSB history behind Byrne (189). The podiums comprise 46 wins, 47 seconds and 37 thirds.
Brookes has taken 44 pole positions and also set 44 fastest laps.
He has scored a total of 3547 points in ten years of BSB competition. This is the third highest total behind Byrne (5219) and Michael Rutter (3854).
He has finished in the points in 214 out of the 248 races he’s started.
Brookes won the Championship in 2015 but has finished second on three occasions – 2010, 2012 and 2017, the latter seeing him miss out on the title by just three points.
2015 is his most successful season to date with 13 wins and 23 podiums.
His most successful circuit in terms of wins is the Brands Hatch GP circuit with 14 victories.
His most successful circuit in terms of podiums is Oulton Park with 27.
Brookes has won more BSB races (9) at Thruxton than any other rider.
Brookes has competed in BSB for ten seasons – 2009 to 2015 and 2017 to present. He missed the 2016 season when contesting the World Superbike Championship instead.
Those ten seasons have seen him ride for four different manufacturers – Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha and Ducati.
He has ridden for seven teams since 2009 – HM Plant Honda, Relentless by TAS Suzuki, Tyco Suzuki, Milwaukee Yamaha, Anvil Hire TAG Racing Yamaha, McAMS Yamaha and Be Wiser Ducati.
Brookes was scheduled to make his first BSB start for HM Plant Honda at Brands Hatch on 13th April, 2009 but was forced to miss the event due to delays with his visa being granted.
Subsequently, his first BSB race came at Oulton Park on Monday 4th May, 2009 when he finished tenth.
In his second meeting at Donington Park, he was involved in a collision on the sighting lap with Sylvain Guintoli and failed to start both races.
His first BSB podium came in race two at Thruxton on Monday 31st May 2009 when he finished third behind Leon Camier and James Ellison.
His first BSB pole position was set at Knockhill on Saturday 4th July, 2009.
After a crash at the hairpin in race one at Mallory Park, Brookes skittled the first three riders – Tommy Hill, Chris Walker and Simon Andrews – with John Laverty and Karl Harris forced to hit the deck in avoidance. Brookes was subsequently banned for the next two rounds earning him the nickname ‘Bad Boy’.
His first BSB season in 2009 saw him finish in fourth overall with ten podiums.
He remained with HM Plant Honda in 2010 and finished second overall, 24 points behind team-mate Ryuichi Kiyonari.
His first BSB win came in race two at Thruxton on Sunday 18th April, 2010 when he beat Tommy Hill by 0.391s.
His first BSB double victory came at Snetterton in 2010.
His championship-winning season in 2015 saw him win six of the seven Showdown races.
His best winning streak was also in 2015 when he won six races in a row on two occasions.
2011 and 2018 are his least successful seasons in terms of podium finishes with just six in each of those two years. He scored two and three wins respectively in those two years
2011 was also the year when he had his worst championship position, finishing fifth overall.
His maiden season in 2009 is the only year he hasn’t won at least one race.
Brookes has featured in the Showdown every year bar one since it was introduced in 2010. The only year he missed was in 2016 when he wasn’t competing in the series.
