The Milwaukee Yamaha team topped the opening free practice sessions at Oulton Park ahead of the seventh round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship after Josh Brookes bounced back from a crash to steal the show.

Brookes had arrived in Cheshire confident as he bids to add to his double Thruxton race win, but suffered a high-speed crash at Druids in the opening session. The team worked hard and Brookes was back on track this afternoon and unfazed he outpaced his rivals to lead into tomorrow’s qualifying and opening race.

Tommy Bridewell is also feeling upbeat ahead of tomorrow’s action, he set the seventh fastest time and is pushing to overhaul the riders ahead of him in his quest for a position inside the top six in the standings.

Brookes said:

“This morning was fairly poor. I rode out and did a number of laps to just get a feeling and into a rhythm for the circuit and then I came in for a bit. When I went back out I just made a mistake passing another rider. I got impatient and went around the outside over Clay Hill and then I didn’t get the change in direction quick enough. That meant as I was also passing, I was left with less room on the entry to Druids. As a result I was on the side of the tyre, on the wet grass and that doesn’t mix. I was really annoyed to have a crash for no reason and it could have been avoided.

“Once we put that behind us we focused on this afternoon and got the bike built back up and focused on this afternoon. I got the feel for it then concentrated on just going quicker. I don’t know if the track is currently as fast as it was earlier in the season as our lap times are a little way off from when we were here before, but it might just need another day. I am happy with where we are going and the Milwaukee Yamaha package, we are tailoring it now ready for qualifying and the race tomorrow – I am ready for it!”

Bridewell said:
“Today has been alright; we have had a nice steady day to be honest. We haven’t done anything stupid and enjoyed the sunshine at Oulton Park! There is no secret that I want to be higher up the standings. We were fourth this morning and seventh this afternoon, which will do for now and it isn’t a disaster. We have a lot of ideas on what we can work on for tomorrow and hopefully we can improve the base setting and then hopefully tomorrow will be a bit of a better day for us.”

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