Reigning British national Champion Josh Brookes has had a difficult start to his return to permanent WorldSBK competition, but did lead a Race in Assen in wet conditions for his Milwaukee BMW team in an impressive show of pace. The Milwaukee Team enjoyed a positive weekend at Donington Park in the UK overall, with a bike in the top ten in each Race: Abraham in Race 1 and Brookes in Race 2, with the teammates both crossing the line in P9. Brookes is buoyed not only by the position and the points, but also by the step forward the team has taken with the setup and the feeling of the bike.

“This ninth position is a good step forward,” asserted the Australian. “It’s the first time this year I’ve really been able to work with the bike and push the bike into corners…really find the limit of the tyres when leaning the bike over and really feeling the energy of the bike. At other Rounds I felt more like a passenger sometimes.

“It’s been difficult to maintain the positive energy when you can’t see much progress. It’s not just the ninth position but also the positive feeling on the bike. No one fell off in front of me and I was still able to maintain the position. I gained positions by being faster rather than waiting for the rate of attrition to help us out.”

The Australian tousled in Race 2 at Donington Park with Dutch wonderkid Michael van der Mark, getting in front of the 2014 WorldSSP Champion for a number of laps before eventually being caught once again and crossing the line in P9.

“I had no idea what was happening in the lead of the Race but certainly around me on the track we had some good racing and some good moments, and I was able to make some good passes,” smiled Brookes. “It’s great to be able to do that and in front of the British public, who cheered me on last year and were cheering me on again this year. It’s also good confidence going into Misano.”

Round 8 of the 2016 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship kicks off on Friday 17^th June at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli as the paddock visits Italy for the second time in 2016, with Milwaukee poised to keep pushing forward as they get to grips with the leap up to WorldSBK.