BSB: Brookes edges closer to BSB return

Josh Brookes has admitted he is most likely to be making a return to the MCE British Superbike Championship next year after a challenging season in World Superbikes with the Milwaukee BMW team.

Stepping up to the world stage with his championship-winning BSB team, Brookes had high hopes of pushing towards the front in 2016 but the reality couldn’t have been more different as he and the Shaun Muir Racing outfit struggled to make headway with BMW’s notoriously challenging S1000RR. 

With Muir having signed a new deal to become WSB’s factory-supported Aprilia team with Eugene Laverty and Lorenzo Savadori for 2017, Brookes was left out in the cold and now faces a return to the British Championship.

“This year clearly hasn’t been great for us,” he said in an exclusive interview with MCN. “I don’t think there’s anyone who thinks what I’ve done in WSB this year is the best I can do and that I couldn’t go better.

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“Unfortunately, that doesn’t change the result though. You’re only as good as your last race. When you’re not getting the results that’s just what it is and you’ve got to take it

“When all the top seats are taken in WSB, you have to look further down the ranks to where you can still get paid and at the moment it’s looking more likely that’ll be a BSB return because there isn’t going to be a magical appearance of new teams in WSB. The teams at the lower end of the grid who might be interested in me are all looking for money. You don’t have to be clever to see that, it’s just being realistic.” 

While his step up to WSB may not have been as successful as he’d hoped, the way in which Brookes stormed to a dominant 2015 title victory hasn’t been forgotten in Britain, making him one of the most sought after riders in the BSB paddock for 2017. 

While the Aussie hasn’t signed a deal for next year yet, he’s already talks with a number of BSB teams about making his return.

“I have not signed anything for 2017 yet, but I have been talking to quite a few teams,” he said. “As much as it’s negative for me to be leaving WSB there is a clear positive side to it. I’m in a very lucky position to have as many people interested in me despite the results this year.”

Read the full exclusive interview in this week’s MCN

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