Josh Brooks was the first British superbike winner since 2023. This also appeared at Alton Park, and was able to risk taking on the opening race, resulting in the DAO Racing Team’s first victory.
The weather played a big role – the first start stopped after only a few corners opened heaven.
Brooks got a big win, revising the Dao Racing Honda along with the intermediate player, and the former champion explained his thoughts after the race.
“We looked at the weather we had passed and it was a small shower that really didn’t saturate the track. So the rain, the water that had dropped didn’t last. So even if it was declared in a wet race, I had no championships to defend.
Brooks quickly saw who else made other choices that turned out to be inspired – Haslam is the only other mid-way show-drider.
“When all the warmers got off, I looked over my shoulder, and you know, Leon was the only person on the grid that could be seen in a short distance with the same tire choices as me.
We left and I really fell in love with the opening few laps in the fight with people. And I was actually thinking about myself. There really is only one person to worry about – that’s Leon.
So I don’t need to take part in the fight with all these people and WETS. Change is in our advantage. ”
Brooks felt that Haslam was excellent in wet conditions, allowing him to come and pass from behind and gap the Australians.
“Then suddenly Leon came past me and I felt like he was more confident in the damper state.
So I was trying to use him as a gauge so when the truck started to dry out even more, I felt the tires were getting hot in the dry area of the truck and when Leon reached the point where he began to catch him, it seemed Leon couldn’t pull it apart.
So it became even more clear that cool conditions and damper conditions favor his bike, but fortunately the rain went away – lastly – for the last few laps it felt like the truck was dry, the tires were hot and the packages were working better with those tires. ”
The race was the final lap fight between the veterans of the two series, with Brooks moving ahead using unexpected moves with the Britains.
“Our pace was very evenly matched, so I didn’t think a regular pass would be enough to accept Leon second. So I thought I had to make a pass in an unconventional place to catch him off guard.
So it wasn’t like an immediate attack on the next turn. The last kind of sector took a lot of risk in a way to make sure he couldn’t attack.
I was really, clearly fighting hard to get this result. It’s not the traditional way to win a race, but I don’t mind. I wasn’t sure if the recent results were planning on getting another of these again.