Tyco Suzuki's Josh Brookes raced his GSX-R1000 to victory in the opening British Superbike Championship race earlier today at Brands Hatch in Kent.

The Australian, who now heads to Japan to compete in the Suzuka 8-Hour race next weekend, made his intentions clear from the opening laps, and when championship leader Shane Byrne crashed-out after attempting a pass on him, it was a matter of holding off Alex Lowes until the chequered flag.

Brookes' Tyco Suzuki team-mate PJ Jacobsen also rode a storming opening British Superbike race at Brands GP circuit on his GSX-R1000; the young American finishing fifth, which is his best-ever British Superbike race result.

In race two Brookes suffered a lack of grip and had to settle for fourth place, with Jacobsen taking eighth, but posted consistent lap-times which augers well for the next round at Oulton Park in three weeks' time.

In British Supersport, Taylor Mackenzie demonstrated his brand of middleweight talent, running top-six in the early laps of the opening encounter. Unfortunately the youngster crashed-out on lap three but produced a top-10 result in race two from 12th place on the grid; and like Jacobsen is now looking to push forward to the next level at Oulton Park.

Josh Brookes:

"Winning the first race felt really good; that goes without saying, although I do feel I've been riding as hard as the guys who have been winning all season. I try hard in every race, but more than anything I'm really proud of the team. At each round we keep making progress and I've also been trying to improve my riding. I was struggling for grip at the end of the race and had some big slides but we held on for the win. In the second race we never changed a thing on the bike, but I just had no grip; so what can I say."

PJ Jacobsen:

"Race one went really, really good. I know a couple of people dropped out but you have to finish the race to score points. The second race also started really well and when the safety car came out and I knew if I could get away with Kiyonari, I could run the front pace, but I'd kind of just wrecked my tyre as I'd been going so hard on it and I had to settle for eighth. That was my best weekend results in BSB so far so I'm looking forward to Oulton now, but a big thanks to the team."

Taylor Mackenzie:

"We got a good start in race one and were well on the pace but I just tucked the front and could do nothing about it. Thankfully the bike wasn't too badly damaged. In race two it was a case of; if you don't get away with the leading group, it's difficult to make up places. I got caught behind another rider and by the time I got by, the gap was too big to recover. But we've made more progress this round and that's important."

Philip Neill - Team Manager:

"As we said before coming here, it wasn't just about winning at all costs. In saying that, Brands is a key circuit and we come back here for the final part of Showdown in the championship, so it is an important factor showing that we can win around here. It was good to see Josh taking that first race to Shakey, and going on to take the win. The second race wasn't so easy for us and we haven't determined yet whether it was increased track temperature, but Josh certainly didn't have the same level of grip to race one.

"PJ had an excellent day with fifth and eighth places, which is great progress for him at a track he still doesn't know terribly well. With Taylor, he was unfortunate to slip off in the first Supersport race, but recovered well with a solid result in race two, so a good weekend overall for us as a team."

British Superbike Championship- Race One Result:

1. Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki)
2. Alex Lowes (Honda) +0.243s
3. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) +8.268s
4. James Westmoreland (BMW) +13.964s
5. PJ Jacobsen (Tyco Suzuki) +18.343s
6. Jon Kirkham (BMW) +20.469s
7. Dan Linfoot (Honda) +24.515s
8. Keith Farmer (Kawasaki) +25.427
9. Howie Mainwaring (Kawasaki) +25.528s
10. Michael Rutter (Honda) +26.176s

British Superbike Championship- Race Two Result:

1. Shane Byrne (Kawasaki)
2. James Ellison (Yamaha) +0.191s
3. Alex Lowes (Honda) +0.289s
4. Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki) +2.815s
5. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) +7.010s
6. James Westmoreland (BMW) +8.044s
7. Jon Kirkham (BMW) +10.201s
8. PJ Jacobsen (Tyco Suzuki) +11.134s
9. Dan Linfoot (Honda) +14.902s
10. Keith Farmer (Kawasaki) +15.513s

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