Josh Brookes and his Tyco Suzuki team are well in the hunt for top honours in the 2013 British Superbike Championship after a double podium success at Oulton Park's May Bank Holiday third round.

Brookes battled to third place in race one but was disappointed at having to drop off the front-running pace in the final stages with a lack of rear drive grip. A shrewd set-up change from his crew for race two allowed the Aussie to run right at the sharp end for the duration of the 18-lap encounter; and second place gave him his fourth podium from the opening six races this season.

His young team-mate PJ Jacobsen had a difficult weekend with a number of mechanical issues, but still holds 10th place in the championship standings after eighth place in the opening encounter and a DNF in race two while running inside the top eight.


Josh Brookes:

"We ran with the best of the new settings we tried for race one, but I ran out of grip after about five laps, even though the tyre looked brand new at the end of the race. The guys made a suspension set-up change for race two and big credit to them as it improved the bike and gave me a tyre to challenge Shakey and Alex at the front. I enjoyed the race and although we could do with a couple of wins, we've made progress and I'm happy with that."

PJ Jacobsen:

"It was a difficult weekend: the first session was rained off and we only got one free practice in FP2 as we got a mechanical in FP3; then in qualifying we suffered another problem but I went into race one with a good attitude and eighth was a great result- my best ever in BSB. In race two I was looking for a whole lot more but we were forced to retire, which is a pity, as I believe I could have challenged Chris Walker for sixth."

Philip Neill - Team Manager:

"Another typical Oulton Park weekend with success but a little bit of frustration. Josh and his crew worked hard to find a setting that allowed him to challenge stronger for the win in race two, but two BSB podiums is not something we should ever be disappointed with and keeps us well in the hunt. What can I say for PJ, apart from when the lad has bad luck, he really has bad luck. Taking the positives, he showed a great attitude and got stuck in and is gaining confidence and more experience all the time."

MCE Insurance British Superbike race one result:

1. Alex Lowes (Honda)
2. James Ellison (Yamaha) +3.348s
3. Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki) +5.460s
4. Jon Kirkham (BMW) +6.655s
5. Tommy Bridewell (Honda) +6.808s
6. Peter Hickman (Honda) +20.568s
7. James Westmoreland (BMW) +25.551s
8. PJ Jacobsen (Tyco Suzuki) +28.302s
9. Chris Walker (Kawasaki) +28.862s
10. Tristan Palmer (Honda) +30.306s


MCE Insurance British Superbike race two result:

1. Shane Byrne (Kawasaki)
2. Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki) +0.788s
3. Alex Lowes (Honda) +0.956s
4. Jon Kirkham (BMW) +11.927s
5. Tommy Bridewell (Honda) +12.066s
6. Chris Walker (Kawasaki) +28.214s
7. Howie Mainwaring (Kawasaki) +37.373s
8. Keith Farmer (Kawasaki) +37.443s
9. Tristan Palmer (Honda) +37.688s
10. Josh Waters (Yamaha) +37.937s

.