Josh Brookes
G’day Josh, thanks for your time today. It looks as though you have been spending your time at home wisely with a good dose of R & R along with a few adventures, what’s been the highlight of your time at home so far this off-season?
Josh Brookes: “It is only just started really, normally I have from the start of November to the end of February, but this time I didn’t get back until the middle/end of November. When I got back I headed off and spent some time with one of my important local sponsors. Flew up to Cairns and out to Port Douglas on a boat for a few days with Steve and Annabel of Milspec, then stopped off at the Gold Coast with some other friends on the way home.
“So it already feels like I have done enough R & R as you call it, probably more than I have done in the past ten years, it was an enjoyable experience and I did some things I haven’t done before. It is always good to do something new and it was certainly enjoyable, the sunshine and warmth, but even though it is still the early part of the off-season, I am already thinking more about staying fit and keeping active, that is the next priority.”
Now let’s get on to those priorities. After finishing second in the the 2019 British Superbike Championship with Ducati you went one better in 2020, wrapping up your second British Superbike Championship, but things haven’t quite gone to plan these past two seasons.
Sixth in 2021, and then slipping to 14th in 2022, and not scoring a podium all year. I know you would have expected forward progress after 2021, but to go further backwards, this season must have been quite frustrating. I know when we have spoken before your primary complaint had been rear grip, was that still the primary problem?
Brookes: “I feel like the engine development has gone the wrong way for our series, I know of course the focus for a brand or engine tuner is all about making more power, that is their focus, and they have done that quite successfully, they’ve made more power but it has come at a cost. At least in the BSB series it is noticeable, with not having traction control and a load of other variable tuning options – we don’t run the same exhaust as World Superbike, or the same ignition and various other changes, and the combination we had didn’t promote improvement in BSB. I am not criticising the rules in BSB, I just think the direction of development for our team was not productive, given the rule set we have to race in.
“I can only make that judgement on what I see and feel. I see in World Superbikes the bike is extremely competitive. In BSB, in the opening year of that model in 2019, Scott (Redding), myself and Tommy Bridewell all on Ducati and almost finished 1-2-3 in a variety of orders every time out. Not only has my times suffered but so has Tommy’s and I think whatever the changes and direction the bike has taken to produce more power, it has come at a cost and unfortunately I didn’t get the results I wanted.
“This is just personal opinion, and what I can say from my own experience, I can’t back it up with statistics of engine performance but it is just how I feel about the situation and how I can sort of summarise the last couple of years. I guess that is sort of in the past now, and now I look at going forwards and I have made a change to go to the FHO BMW Team, so I’m just focussed on making the best of that opportunity now.”
Did you make the choice to leave PBM, or was that door closed for you?
Brookes: “A bit of both I would say, I felt like if I don’t make a change then things are not going to change. But I also think the team equally had their doubts at maybe whether the riders were good enough. So I think everyone has to pursue change, to satisfy their own minds, if that makes sense.”
Now a new adventure for 2023. Of course you did race a BMW in the 2016 World Superbike Championship to a couple of top ten finishes. Your new team-mate Peter Hickman finished the 2022 BSB season strongly with a win in the final round, but had failed to make the showdown, finishing ninth in the championship. You have raced in close quarters with both Hicky and Danny Buchan, and have now ridden the bike, where do you rate its strengths and weaknesses?
Brookes: “I think it is difficult for me to pinpoint without having done any lengthy tests, and the tests I did on the bike it wasn’t with any other BSB teams present, so it is very difficult to be accurate with the bike in regards to its strengths and weaknesses. But racing against it, it looked like top speed was always really strong, and edge grip, particularly where the Ducati seems to suffer is right on the edge of the tyre, in the middle of the turn, and that seems to be quite a strong point for the BMW.
“Although I haven’t experienced it, just listening to the team and Peter and stuff like that, it seems like drive grip, later in the turn as you accelerate off the turn, what we call the drive grip area, is probably an area that they want to work on and focus on improving. But like I said without being in a racing situation, where you are head to head comparing the bike and its acceleration, I didn’t recognise that in the moment I had to test.”
And for the other bikes on the grid, what do you think makes Yamaha so strong in BSB? You know the YZF-R1 pretty well yourself, and won a British Superbike Championship on one in 2015. Obviously a lot has changed since then, but Yamaha riders pretty much dominated BSB in 2021, winning 22 of the 33 races held that season, and won 20 races this season. What do you put that sort of dominance down to in regards to the Yamaha package in BSB?
Brookes: “There is a couple of teams running Yamaha, which of course adds to their ability to create success, when one team is perhaps not having the success someone else is their to step up and take the position, so that obviously count towards the overall results. But you have got to say it is a good package, I can’t speak for the bike currently, but the bikes I have ridden in the past have been competitive and I am sure like everybody they are trying to improve all the time, so no doubt there have been some developments and found some improvements, and you could also see that in World Superbike where Yamaha made a step forward… But it is not my job to promote Yamaha at the moment so I can’t say anything more than that really.”
Your team-mate for 2023 has been smashing lap records around the Isle of Man onboard the BMW and in recent years has pretty much made the place his own. Only Dean Harrison has been able to hold a candle to Hicky around the Mountain Course over full race distance, but even his fastest lap is eight-seconds slower than Hickman’s. Are you going to get the chance to race the TT in 2023?
Brookes: “Yes, I think it is up to me, the team, we haven’t discussed exactly any of the road racing events, in the contract it says that each event will be discussed and contracted independently, so I have got the BSB contract done and dusted, and I think the road stuff is up for negotiation. I know they have got Hicky doing what he wants to do, and I don’t think they are under pressure to ask me to ride, or not to, I think it will be a collaboration as to whether I feel it is something I want to do, and if it is something the team can facilitate.”
Do you want to do the TT in 2023? Or do you need some time on the bike before making that decision?
Brookes: “It depends on the financial situation really. I know people will often criticise people, saying it is not an event you should do for money, but you know motorcycle racing is something I am trying to do for a career, and if you are not going to make money from it then, I don’t want to, um, expose myself to further risk if it is not having a financial return, so I think it needs to be discussed on that basis really. Whether there is enough money in the team budget to facilitate paying me a salary for those events… I think that will be something that will come up and be decided when and if it is appropriate.”
Do you think there is much chance of you getting a World Endurance call up from BMW at any point in 2023? Is that something you would like to do?
Brookes: “It is not something I’ve really got any interest in personally, but if they did call up I would discuss it with the team, whether it has positive reasons to go, or whether there are reasons that might inhibit our chances of success in the BSB campaign, which is obviously the primary focus. Certainly the Suzuka 8 Hour would be of interest, because I have done that a lot of times, finished second, so I would like to pursue that if it was something they were interested in doing, but those conversations haven’t been had at this point.”
The 2023 BSB season gets underway with round one at Silverstone in April, when do you head back to the UK and start testing with the new team?
Brookes: “Well the BSB has a compulsory no testing policy until March 1st, so you can’t ride your BSB bike or ride with your official team as such, because then it would be considered an official test day, so that will start at some point from the beginning of March when the testing ban gets lifted, that is when the action will start again.”
What do you think of the latest points system shake up instigated by organisers for 2023?
Brookes: “I don’t find it very confusing, they have just got a low lower points table in the opening rounds so nobody can stretch out a huge lead that can’t be closed up later in the year, if someone was to have a problem for example. Then in the final three rounds it just ramps it with more points available as it goes. So if there is a deficit, or you do find yourselves having better results at the end of the year you can close up a gap that you might have suffered early in the year. It is just to make the season come down to the final round and keep it interesting for the fans and television audience. I think anything that promotes motorcycles and keeps it interesting is a positive.
“I think BSB is the prime example for other series to see how big the following is and it is all down to television coverage and the design of the series to keep it interesting to follow and have the championship go down to the last. The motivation is all there to make the spectacle better, then if it is as good as it has been, the sponsors and everyone alike get good returns for their investment and that means the teams have got budgets to employ riders and put together strong bike packages for us riders to race, so it is all for the greater good, I believe.”
This weekend you are having a trot around your old stomping ground, Eastern Creek. Racing a Livson Racing BMW under lights for the opening round of the St. George Motorcycle Club Summer Night Series. Will this be the same bike Joel Kelso rode to a tenth place at the ASBK finale and have you jumped on the bike before this weekend?
Brookes: “This weekend will be the first time I will ride it. I don’t know which bike it will be or the history of the machine itself, I just feel that the off season is too long to not do some sort of riding, and so I thought I may as well collaborate and bring something to the team which is new and wants to expand, and gives me the opportunity to stay sharp and out on a bike.”
39 years old now, 54 race wins in BSB, 147 podium finishes, and two British Superbike Championships under your belt. Coming off what would have just been one of the most trying years in your long and distinguished career, how strongly does the desire still burn?
Brookes: “It is as strong as it has ever been, I haven’t any reason or motivation to stop, I don’t think it has grown or dropped in any way, I feel the same about racing as I did any period in time.”
When you finally do make the decision to hang up your leathers, whenever that is, what do you see your life after racing involving? You certainly know your way around a motorcycle and have a technical knowledge probably almost unsurpassed by any current racer, do you have any desire to use all that experience in a crew chief role or some other role within racing?
Brookes: “Yeah, I do, I think it would be a shame to have the experience that I have and not to put it to good use. It is something you can’t buy as such, you have got to spend the years to understand and go through the difficult times to learn some of the things I have, so I think it would be definitely worthwhile pursuing something in the sport that can showcase and harness what I have learned. Like you just mentioned, a crew chief role is something I have thought of. Obviously I am still thinking about racing at the moment, so I haven’t put a lot of thought in to after racing, but at the same time I have had ideas and I have been asked many times, what I would do when I finish.
“I think maybe like a suspension service, because I have done years in suspension at the start of racing and understand it, and I enjoy the suspension side and it is a massive area of tuning for all bikes, so possibly something in the suspension service industry. Or crew chief, or possibly even somewhere in a team management role, as I believe I have got enough understanding and I have the capabilities to do that, the only thing that I shy away from a management role would be perhaps the unknown to how much I might like it, might be too stressed by it, I can’t think of the right words… but perhaps I might not get enough satisfaction from a team management role, so I’d probably stay more along the lines of a crew chief or the technical suspension side.”
I know you are a passionate motorcycle enthusiast with an interest in all facets of motorcycle racing. Across the disciplines which rider stood out for you in 2022?
“I think Davey Todd stood out this year somewhat. Winning the British Superstock Championship and some great performances at the North West 200 and the TT made him stand out for me this year.“
And finally, have you got a name for the possum that inhabits your shed yet..? (Check out Josh’s Instagram story)
Brookes: “That particular possum has been around for probably six to ten months, maybe a little longer, but haven’t named it yet, so I put it out to the fans and the public to see if they can come up with something fitting and catchy, and see what they come up with.”
All the best for the weekend coming up and the season ahead Josh, thanks for your time and honesty as usual.
