The Milwaukee Yamaha continued to lead the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship pack at Thruxton today (Friday) as Josh Brookes set the pace in both sessions ahead of tomorrow’s Datatag Qualifying session.

Brookes had been building up momentum throughout the sessions and continued to increase his pace at the circuit where he claimed a double victory last season.

Broc Parkes was sidelined for the weekend as the Australian continued to suffer from a recent arm pump operation and Adam Jenkinson will deputise for him for the remainder of the Thruxton weekend.
 
Josh Brookes

“It didn’t start out immediately that ok this morning – we like to have the bike close to the same as the previous track when we first start the weekend, but Thruxton is so unique that you have to come with a whole different attitude. We started on a set-up that didn’t work that well, but we were able to improve all day and a fresh tyre left me at the top of the sheets.

“In the afternoon, that meant we were able to play around with SC1 and SC2 tyres. It’s left us with more questions than answers at the minute – I tried the SC0 too, and while I like it, will it be as good at the end of the race? I think I was 0.6 faster than Shakey on the SC1 – but its how it’s going to affect how the race goes.”  

Adam Jenkinson

“It’s been a few years since I last rode a Superbike and the biggest things for me were the tyres and brakes. It was not such a massive change for me, the seat and handlebars were not so different compared to the Superstock bike, it was the tyres and brakes were the big ones.

"I’m satisfied but my last lap might have been better but today was just getting used to the bike. I’m confident that I can go faster but I am only 0.8s off the fastest time. I am not going to get giddy and carried away by it all.”