Australia’s Josh Brookes said he would ‘feel like a quitter’ if he left the MCE British Superbike Championship without winning the title.

Brookes put pen to paper on a new deal for the 2015 season with Shaun Muir’s Milwaukee Yamaha team after being linked with a switch to the World Superbike Championship next year.

He is currently in third place in the BSB series ahead of this weekend’s final Showdown triple-header at Brands Hatch, but has no chance of challenging Shane Byrne and Ryuichi Kiyonari for the British crown after two non-finishes at Assen effectively ended his title hopes.

Brookes, who departed Northern Ireland team Tyco Suzuki to join Milwaukee Yamaha this season, said:

“I would feel like a quitter if I left the championship now without winning the BSB title and I believe it has just been circumstances that have prevented that happening at times.

“I know there was talk of me leaving BSB, but with potentially a new bike and high expectations I want to win this championship before moving on.

“Naturally the second consecutive season with a team is always better than the first because you have experiences to build on, so hopefully next year we can reach our potential of winning the championship,” he added.

“We need to come back next year and we need to crack it.”

Yamaha is set to introduce a new version of the R1 Superbike for 2015 and Brookes will be hoping the Japanese manufacturer’s highly anticipated new model will carry him to the title.

Team Owner Shaun Muir added:

“I’m delighted that we have Josh on board with us for a second year because retaining him in BSB was always our prime focus.

“There are lots of positives coming from Yamaha and the future is very exciting. Josh understands this and also recognises that Yamaha YME and YMUK have made every effort to give him a longer-term future and are especially keen to see him progress within the Yamaha ranks: deliver the results and we will both reward that success.

“I’m certain we will see a stronger and more polished racer with a second year on the R1.”

Tommy Bridewell partnered Brookes this year and Muir added that the team’s second BSB rider will be announced soon.

Brookes has also competed at the North West 200 and Isle of Man TT international road races for the past two years, finishing as the runner-up in the feature Superbike race at the NW200 in May and setting a new outright lap record at 122.958mph.




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