T༒wo-time BSB Champion Josh Brookes says his switch to the DAO Ra♊cing Honda team for the 2025 British Superbike Championship has been “what I expected in some ways,” but says there are still areas he needs to improve.

42-year-old Brookes, who was last BSB Champion on the PBM Ducati in 2020, switched to DAO Racing – which ran Kawasaki ZX-10RRs until the end of last season – from FHO BMW for the upcoming BSB season, and says that his experience – having been racing BSB since 2009 with the exception of one 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:World Superbike season in 2016 – in the British Champion𝕴ship has helped him to adapt to his new environment.

“No new experiences for me, being in it for as long as I have,” Brookes told mahbx.com after the Oulton P⛦ark test.

“I’ve ridden for many different teams and bikes, so it’s all emotions and experiences that I’ve been through in times beᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚfore.

“So, it’s what I expected in some ways: I’ve got on perfectly with the team, a lot of the members I already knew from other experiences before, so that made that a lot easier; the Honda is in general quite⛦ a versatile bike, it’s not very particular like some other brands can be at times, so that’s been quite good.”

The Australian was c𒁃lear, though, that there is work to do to improve his situati🐲on.

“I sꦦuppose we need to focus on the criticaꦅl element, and that’s the lap time,” he said.

“We’ve not at any point been really far away, but it’s also ve꧅ry obvious that we need to find better improveme💞nts.

“I feel like we’re learning loa𓂃ds about the bike, even in the last 15 minutes of the last session [there was] kind of a ‘light bulb’ moment. It’s not like we’re learning new things that we haven’t experienced or learnt before, it’s just how the pieces go together right now: what combination oꦛf settings will deliver the results that we search for at the moment?

“I feel like we’re still a little way away.

“I’m a realistic person, I feel like we definitely can’t hide that we need some improvements to be competitive, but I still feel quite optimisti🧔c at this point that we’ve got the chance to improve because there’s lots of areas with the bike where I feel like ‘If that was a bit better, and that was a bit better, we’d make some progress’.”

Brookes explained that it is a c🦩ase f𝐆or him of putting all of the pieces together at the same time, but also highlighted tyre life as a point of concern.

“We have had the bike working good in individual areas, but just not the whole package all at once to do fast laps,”♒ he said.

“Tꦗhe thing that actually is of more concern at the moment is actually the tyre life; I feel like maybe we’re on the weaker side [from] what I could tell.

“It’s difficult, because it’s a test, to know what everyone else is doing and where they sit, but﷽ my instinct is that we need to work on tyre life a little bit as well, so that’s probably where our focus will be when we come back [to Oulton Park] for the race.

“I think if we have a little bit more temperature on the track, it won’t be a problem; but if we have cooler temperatures, as we’ve had in the morning sessions these las🐲t two days, it will possibly be a problem for the race distance.

“So, 🌞I feel that’s an area that we need to focus ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚon, but we’re not in a position to panic yet, it’s a long season.”

In terms of his feeling on the bike, Brookes was clear about where the imꦍprovements needed to come.

“It’s corner entry, engine brake area, so the setꦉtings we have for engine brake I think can definitely be revised,” he said.

“But also, I think thꩲe way the bike transfers on corner entry.

“It could be a combination of two factors.

“I think the bike, the way the rear tyre stays in contact with the ground, isn’🔜t just as g⛎ood as some of our rivals – whether it be other riders on Hondas or other machines, I feel like that’s an area where we still have potential to grow.

“It’s just keeping that rear 🐬tyre on the ground and getting the bike to stop on corner entry.

“We have reason to believe that we’re quite good in top speed, in acceleration off the turn, but that ♉area of straight line braking and going into the turn is the area that’s been highlighted for me to improve.”

He added: “If we sort of generalise how ♏the bike is working, most of the other areas we’re either the same or somewhere near. The area that stands out as a꧒ proper weakness is corner entry.

“It’s not like we don’t♒ have the good equipment to brake, the materials for braking are okay, it’s the function of the bike, the package, how well it’s keeping that rear tyre on the ground and pulling up.”