Josh Brookes believes he needs to find something extra before Thruxton if he’s to mount a challenge to his Bennetts British Superbike Championship team-mate Scott Redding.

The Australian grabbed two second places at Snetterton, both times behind his Be Wiser Ducati team-mate Redding, and admits he just wasn’t able to match the former MotoGP star.

“We made improvements all weekend,  but we just didn’t have enough to challenge Scott,” he said. “We’re very close but it means we’ve got to get something extra for Thruxton now.”

In the opening race, Brookes admits he may have let his team-mate get away too far at the front because he wasted precious time scrapping with McAMS Yamaha’s Taz Mackenzie.

“I was strong at the end of that race, I had conserved a bit at the start but that wasn’t the problem. The little battle that Taz and I had let Scott go and I think a smarter race would’ve been for Taz and I not to race each other. 

“We let him get away and ultimately at the end of the race he was too far away. Whatever efforts I put in I couldn’t make that back.  I lost too much in the battle with Taz.”

In race two, Brookes led from the green light all the way to lap 13 when Redding made a move and stole the place and with it the win three laps later.

“I got a good start and I led most of the race. We’d made a little change to the bike after race one and I felt there was an improvement, not a big one but it was noticeable. 

“I felt I could push more to the limit without risking as much so I felt a lot more confident with the bike and just pushed and tried to control the lead. But Scott came past and maybe he had a bit more in reserve.

“I’ve got to be happy with second, I rode the best race I could. We improved all weekend but we just didn’t have enough to challenge Scott.”