Brookes blitzes lap record in Oulton test

Milwaukee Yamaha rider Josh Brookes has blitzed his own lap record of Oulton Park, set last year on the old R1, in this week’s official test at the Cheshire circuit. Finishing the day top of the timesheets, he was half a second under last year’s record lap.

“The good thing is we have come from pre-season testing, then to Donington and Brands Hatch and now to here, and the bike has worked consistently at all three which are really different tracks.

“Here it is like a rollercoaster because it has ups and downs and undulations, off and on camber corners, so to stay consistent is the first of many good signs, so from there we are steadily adjusting spring and preload to see how that felt.”

However, he wasn’t the only one on record pace, with Shane Byrne, Stuart Easton and James Ellison all joining him in going faster than the old 1:35.411 record.

It was also a good day for the Tyco BMW duo of Tommy Bridewell and Michael Laverty, continuing to make improvements with the S1000RR to finish the day fifth and eighth.

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, official test, combined classification:

1. Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) 1m:34.850s
2. Shane Byrne (PBM Kawasaki) +0.041s
3. James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.233s
4. Stuart Easton (PBM Kawasaki) +0.339s
5. Tommy Bridewell (Tyco BMW) +0.631s
6. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Buildbase BMW) +0.797s
7. Peter Hickman (RAF Reserves BMW) +0.959s
8. Michael Laverty (Tyco BMW) +1.417s
9. James Westmoreland (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +1.446s
10. Jason O’Halloran (Honda Racing) +1.457s