Josh Brookes scored the Milwaukee Yamaha team a double podium finish at the second round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch today (Sunday) with a pair of third places as Broc Parkes scored a top ten finish.

In the opening race Brookes moved up the order to be in contention for the final podium position, and the Australian contender snatched third place on the final drag to the finish line. Parkes also battled his way up the order to claim eighth and his first top ten finish of the season.

In race two Brookes was again pushing for a podium finish, running fourth until lap 10 when Ryuichi Kiyonari ran wide at Druids, and giving him the opportunity to grab the position. Brookes was piling the pressure on Shane Byrne, but eventually claimed third to hold the same position in the overall standings ahead of Oulton Park. Parkes meanwhile got caught in the pack at the start, before fighting his way through to eleventh, to narrowly miss out on a second top ten finish.
 



Josh Brookes - R1: 3rd, R2: 3rd, Championship position: 3rd

“I actually thought my chances of podium were gone by the mid-part of race one. Then the safety car came out and it bunched everyone back up again. I set about trying to do a good finish to the race, and because we were all bunched up, it was all to play for again. As it was, Shakey forced a pass on Kiyo and they both lost a bit of momentum and I went into the last turn and actually nearly ran into the back of Kiyo - it was really close! It was a heart in the mouth type situation, but I got a slingshot effect, on to the start-finish straight and I was able to squeeze between the two of them for third position.

“In race two, once we get about maybe six or eight laps in, I started to make ground on Shakey. James [Ellison] was disappearing which was a bit annoying – it means you’ve got just got to do something. You can’t do it in that race but something’s got to change going forward to try and make that back. I just focused on trying to catch Shakey, and I thought I was doing a good job, but not good enough. The pace was good, but we were both doing it so I had to take third.”  

Broc Parkes - R1: 8th, R2: 11th, Championship position: 15th

“Today hasn’t been too bad; it feels like I have been improving all weekend and we have made big steps forward since the first sessions on Friday. I felt more comfortable in the races and I had a good battle with the guys and did the best job I could. I got boxed in at the start of race two and then I came through the pack. I feel like we have made the next step and we know there is still more to come.”  
 
Team Manager Mick Shanley

“It has been a really positive weekend and as a team we have made big improvements with the base setting. The race pace today was incredible, but we are really happy with Josh’s two third places and also the improvements that Broc has made this weekend. I want to commend the whole team on their performance at Brands Hatch and now we look forward to Oulton Park.”