The Milwaukee Yamaha team celebrated their first victory of the 2014 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship season at Oulton Park this afternoon as Josh Brookes claimed his first win for the team to follow up his second place in the opening race.

In the opening race of the day Brookes got off to a flying start to shadow championship leader Shane Byrne and despite his best efforts was forced to settle for second. The Australian’s blistering pace during the race broke the existing lap record set in 2006 and put Brookes on pole position for the second race. Tommy Bridewell had a hard-fought race to charge up the order to claim fourth position as he continued to make up ground on his rivals.

Race two was a different story as Brookes led the race from the start and despite a move from Byrne early in the proceedings he instantly attacked back to reclaim the position. Brookes held the advantage despite the growing pressure to claim his first win for Milwaukee Yamaha as he moved second in the overall standings. Bridewell had been pushing forward and was battling for fourth position when he got caught in traffic and had to settle for fifth, elevating himself to fifth in the overall standings.


Brookes said:

“I am delighted with how we have finished today with the win. In the first race I didn’t get a great start and then we had the safety car and that always breaks my rhythm even though it was on the first lap. When we did get going I thought I had a really good run onto the straight on Shakey and then next thing I knew James was there and I couldn’t turn into the corner. I wasn’t too bothered at that point, but then I saw Shakey starting to get away and I thought I needed to go with him. At that point I wasn’t too comfortable to push and I couldn’t match the times from earlier in the weekend but then as the race went on I was more confident; unfortunately it wasn’t enough to catch Shakey but we changed that in race two.

“It is a great feeling to win and what we all push so hard to achieve, so to get it is quite rewarding but it was so difficult. There is always a dog fight in BSB to get to the result so I tried not to make mistakes and set my pace quite strong and consistent. In the early laps Shane got passed me and I thought I can’t let him get into that robotic stage where he is in the zone so I pulled a really cool, aggressive move to get back ahead. I had some really big slides and moments at the end of the race and I thought come on let’s just keep it all together and bring it home so I was really pleased to finally see that chequered flag waving.”

Bridewell said:

“I felt I rode well today and had two good races although we were still a bit away from where we need to be to push for the podiums. In race one I hung in there and a fourth place was much better but in race two I was disappointed as I got stuck in traffic. I knew I had the gap behind me and that I was stronger than Stuart (Easton) at certain points of the circuit but the backmarkers held me up and it cost me the position. I know we still have more to do at Snetterton because we want to be fighting for wins but I rode as hard as I could today to get these results, especially after coming back from the missed time on Saturday. I am happy enough but want to be fighting for podiums when it comes to Snetterton.”

Team owner Shaun Muir concluded:

“I am delighted with this weekend and Josh’s win today was his just rewards for the hard work he has put in since joining the Milwaukee Yamaha team. This has traditionally been a good track for us and although the first race didn’t quite go to plan with the safety car and he had to settle for second to Shakey, he definitely made up for it in race two with that performance. In the second race he soaked up a huge amount of pressure from Shakey which was fantastic. Tommy this weekend has been brilliant too, he didn’t get the results he was expecting at Brands Hatch but he picked himself up and was back out fighting. He lost some time, but proved that he is ready to push at the front.”


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