Josh Brookes’ rollercoaster season in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship continued at Silverstone on Sunday with a good podium finish in the opening race offset by a sixth place later in the day.

That trend has followed the VisionTrack Ducati rider at every circuit so far, challenging for the wins in one race but unable to do so in the next, and the net effect of the weekend was that he only clawed back one point on current series leader Glenn Irwin, the gap now 35 points.

Like numerous other riders up and down the paddock, Brookes has suffered with severe chatter as a result of the 2020-spec tyres but Sunday’s first race saw him right at the sharp end leading from lap two all the way until lap 27 when he was overhauled by eventual winner Kyle Ryde.

“The team did a great job overnight with the bike and we made further changes after morning warm up which gave me that little bit that I was missing on Saturday but although I led for much of the first race, I knew the guys were right behind me,” the Australian said afterwards.

“I just focused on what I could do though, rather than worry about what they were doing and what their race strategies were. Maybe I wasn’t the fastest rider out there but I tried to be the most consistent. At the end of the day though, Kyle rode well and a superior race; he controlled his speed all race and timed his move to perfection so fair play to him.”

Sixth in race two, where he never got higher than fourth, on the Ducati Panigale V4R, meant Brookes outscored Irwin by four points on the day but just one over the course of the weekend although he has now moved up from fourth to joint second overall at the mid-point of the season.

However, the sixth place finish left him feeling frustrated once more and is now hoping the next round at Oulton Park, where the Ducati has traditionally been strong, will see him get back to winning ways.

“I was naturally disappointed to finish the second race in sixth place but I did the best I could and overall, it’s been a tough weekend. I’m looking forward to Oulton though as we know the bike will work better there.”