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Brookes needs only 'small alterations' for winning package

Be Wiser Ducati’s Josh Brookes believes that with a few small alterations to his Panigale V4R, he could have a winning package at next weekend’s Bennetts British Superbike opener at Silverstone.

The 2015 champion ended Tuesday’s Silverstone test third on the timesheet and Brookes reckons that the bike, which is still in its infancy, is already capable of putting up a good race for the podium.

“I think now we can put a good race up and possibly be strong enough to win. I think with a few small alterations we could be in a position to do that,” Brookes told bikesportnews.com.

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“In the dry, there is still work to be done. I’m quite optimistic given the position we were in both wet and dry conditions, and if we improve the bike a little further, we will be competitive enough to win.

The shock is where I am most focused. It’s soft, sitting a bit low under acceleration but also harsh over bumps which is not easy to fix as if you improve one, it makes the other worse. so we need a bit of clever engineering there to find a way to solve it.”

Rain early in the day meant Brookes got his first run out on the bike in wet conditions and there were no unpleasant surprises.

“I was curious to know what the bike would be like in wet conditions and it was working well, so we also have that box ticked. I was fast in both wet and dry, so that was a handy evaluation achieved by the track being wet.

“We did all the usual things to prepare the bike for the wet but that was it, I just went and rode it, didn’t really make many changes to it, it was good as it was.”

The Panigale is a totally different beast to the Yamaha on Brookes has had some much recent success but he hasn’t had to consciously change his riding style.

I might have done so unknowingly, it might be a natural evolution of adapting to improve you speed. I feel like I have let the bike come to me through setting changes.

“The team is great to work with and they’ve been very accommodating so far at all the tests, so I’m really pleased how we have all fitted together.”

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