Josh Brookes claims maiden TT win
Aussie BSB star wins curtain-raiser at the 2017 Classic TTAustralian British Superbike racer Josh Brookes tasted victory at the Isle of Man for the very first time recently, when he rode his Roger Whitfield-prepared Paton 500 to a convincing win in the Senior TT, the first event in the 2017 Classic TT.
Deputising for 23-time TT winner John McGuinness, who is still recovering after a nasty crash at this year's 2017 Ulster Grand Prix, Brookes finished the four-lap race 34 seconds clear of his closest rival Jamie Coward (Ted Woof Norton), with William Dunlop rounding out the podium in third on his Davies Motorsport Honda.
"My first board wasn't updated and the second board had me at 'P +0 so I gave it everything I’d got and risked blowing the engine,” Brookes said. “It was nice to be able to fill in for John, which is a great honour, but also to win the race for the team."
His second outing wasn't so successful, however. Starting from 11th on the 588 Rotary Norton, he'd climbed two paces to ninth at the end of the opening lap and had pulled two more places into seventh by the end of the second lap, but was forced to retire with a mechanical issue on the third of the four-lap race.
Compatriot David Johnson, who again raced with the number-one plate in the Superbike TT, finished a credible fourth place behind race winner Dean Harrison (Kawasaki), Kiwi Bruce Anstey (Yamaha) and third-place getter Horst Saiger (Kawasaki).
Australian TT legend Cameron Donald finished eighth overall in the Junior TT, and second in his class, riding the Macintosh Racing Norton.
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