This May Bank Holiday weekend (29 April – 1 May), Oulton Park hosts the second round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship, where after a successful opening round the FHO Racing BMW Motorrad team lead the championship standings with Josh Brookes.
Securing a hat trick of podium finishes last time out at Silverstone, with a win in the second race aboard the BMW M 1000 RR, Brookes and Faye Ho’s squad enjoyed the best start ever to their respective seasons.
Following up the successful results at Silverstone, Brookes enjoyed a strong recent test at the 2.6-mile Cheshire circuit, where he finished sixth overall in preparation for the second round this weekend.
Teammate Peter Hickman suffered some bad luck during the opening round, but despite his results not being where he wanted, he showed impressive race pace, where he was matching the times of the front runners. Hoping to turn his luck around this weekend, Hickman was third fastest overall during the official test at the Cheshire track.
Also in action across the weekend will be Richard Cooper and Kate Walker in the ABK Beer 0% BMW Motorrad F 900 R Cup, where after an exciting start to the season Cooper leads the championship ahead of Thomas Strudwick.
Track action gets underway on Saturday (29 April) with Superbike free practice at 13.00. Qualifying and the opening race of the weekend takes place on Sunday (30 April), with two further races on Bank Holiday Monday (1 May). Click here to view the full weekend schedule.
Josh Brookes:
“Obviously we are carrying a lot of positive energy after winning the race at Silverstone; however I am not shy to say that Silverstone has always produced, not strange results, but hasn’t always been the same character as the rest of the season as a whole. We have seen examples before so I don’t want to get too hyped up and over enthusiastic about those results as we still have a whole season ahead to prove. Looking to Oulton Park though I have had success there in the past and I think it is a fantastic circuit, it’s very technical and physically demanding. I am looking forward to getting there and see what we can do in the races.
“At the test we were really competitive in the times, both Peter [Hickman] and I were in the top six, so that bodes well but we also know we have areas and room to improve with the general package of the bike because of the limited time we had before racing. We haven’t got what I would think, the bike in the perfect range. I feel it is quite easy at this stage to possibly make changes that will really improve our potential, against say later in the year where you just set up from track to track. So given the proximity to where we started and where we are, I think there is a good optimism amongst us that we are going to improve at the round. I am looking forward to getting there and getting started.”
Peter Hickman:
“I’m looking forward to Oulton Park this weekend, I was really strong there at the end of last year and both Josh [Brookes] and myself were super-strong at the recent test, with us both inside the top six. My times were consistent, and I felt good on the bike, so I’m excited to get back there and race this weekend.
Silverstone, I need to forget about really, it was just one of those weekends where nothing seemed to go right. So, looking ahead to the second round, I think we can be in with a good shout this weekend. The BMW works well at Oulton, I was fast there last year and we’ve improved the bike for this year. At the test despite the windy conditions, I did nearly my fastest ever lap, so that’s a huge positive to take into the weekend.”
Faye Ho – Team Principal:
“We’re arriving at the second round having had the best-ever start to a season with Josh on the podium in all three races and claiming a race win. I know that Silverstone can be a bit of an odd track, so we’re not getting too ahead of ourselves, but it is certainly a positive start to our season. The boys both enjoyed a successful test the other week at Oulton with Pete third fastest and Josh sixth, so if we can continue this momentum we should be in for a good weekend.
