Brookes: Wet sessions 'null and void'

Josh Brookes says that despite finishing second in today’s opening MCE British Superbike session at Brands Hatch, there’s not much to take from the wet session.

A damp track before the session started and a rain shower midway through meant that no one pushed their lap times until the closing stages of the race, with a late lap from Brookes leaving him on provisional pole for half a lap, until Alex Lowes demoted him as the flag went out.

Brookes said afterwards: “It was properly bad, mixed conditions out there. At the end you’d have been better off on an intermediate or a slick tyre, until it started to rain again right at the end. We just spent the session playing on throttle feel and tyres, but the rest of it is basically null and void.”

However, Brookes, who has struggled with setup over the past few rounds, and conceded at Silverstone he was no longer in the title race, says that the team have moved back to their settings from earlier in the season.

“We’d gone back to our base setting at Silverstone; prior to that we’d been trying to find a diamond in the rough with setup. It didn’t come out, so we’re better to stick with the devil you know. I was able to push Shakey and Alex here the last time we were here, and they’re going to be more concerned with each other than me. Hopefully somewhere in amongst all that, it’ll play into my hands!”

With track conditions remaining intermittent, the first race of the weekend this afternoon (Saturday), could easily through up interesting surprises. The race gets underway at 1540, live on Eurosport, and will be preceded by superpole at 1215.