Josh Brookes: 2nd
Peter Hickman: 14th
Josh Brookes: 4th
Peter Hickman: 8th
Josh Brookes: 16th
Peter Hickman: 14th
Josh Brookes: 10th
Peter Hickman: 11th
It was a weekend of highs and lows for the FHO Racing BMW Motorrad team at the ninth round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park, with Josh Brookes back in podium contention and Peter Hickman continuing to make progress aboard the BMW M 1000 RR.
Both FHO riders stormed into Q2 on Saturday after Josh set the second fastest time with Hicky 11th in Friday’s practice sessions. Heading into qualifying the mood in Faye Ho’s garage was positive; on track Josh was flying aboard his BMW machine and soon jumped to the top of the times. However, in the final stages of the session Josh was knocked off pole position by just 0.040 seconds and started the opening race of the weekend from the front row in second.
Getting a brilliant start off the line for the opening race, it was Josh who led the field at the first corner. With the chasing BSB pack behind him Josh led for the first three laps, with Glenn Irwin eventually sneaking past on the third rotation. Josh held strong and defended his position well until the 15th lap, where there was a four-way battle for the three podium spots. Kyle Ryde and Lee Jackson got through and eventually Josh crossed the line fourth. Meanwhile for teammate Peter, he came home eighth having made his way through from 12th.
Conditions soon changed on Sunday, with relentless rain at the 2.69-mile circuit for most of the day. With a revised schedule in place the Sprint race was reduced to just ten laps, but having started from third place Josh dropped back on the opening lap and wasn’t able to make up places, which saw the FHO duo finish Pete 14th and Josh 16th.
The second Superbike race of the day took place in tricky conditions, opting for intermediate tyres and having started from 17th, Josh flew past his BSB rivals and by the opening lap had moved up to sixth. Drops of rain were reported, but Josh was still moving through the pack and on the fourth lap he was in second place. With a podium looking hopeful, there was further heartbreak for Josh who crashed at Druids with conditions getting worse. The race was eventually red flagged due to track contamination as a result of another crash. Peter meanwhile at the red flag was 11th.
The race was restarted to a five-lap dash; however, the action was in the FHO Racing garage after the team learnt that Josh could restart the race. With just minutes until pit lane opened the BMW M 1000 RR was recovered back to the pit box and it was all hands-on deck to get the Superbike out for the race. All eyes were on the garage as Faye Ho’s squad worked quickly and with just seconds to spare Josh gallantly rolled out to start the race from the back of the grid.
Across the five laps Josh rode a heroic race; being hesitant for the first few laps with a lack of grip, he then found grip and started making his way up the field. Matching the times of those running in the front group Josh was flying. However, with a shorter race distance, he was unable to move further up and crossed the line in an impressive 10th position, but with a few more laps of Oulton Park he would have once again been chasing down a podium spot. Teammate Hicky finished his weekend with an 11th place.
The FHO Racing BWM Motorrad team now have a week’s break before the penultimate round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship takes place at Donington Park on 27-29 September.
“Well, I don’t even know where to start with this weekend! It’s been super positive in many ways, certainly our strongest round of the season but unfortunately, we’re not coming away with the prizes to reflect that. We were strong in the dry conditions straight from FP1. Qualified 2nd, missed out on pole by 0.040, led Race 1 and battled for the podium until the end. After heavy rain all day on Sunday, Race 2 was delayed, I really struggled in the wet conditions and ended up going backwards. This meant for Race 3 we started back in 17th. However the weather had eased, I got a good start and was in the top 10 by the second lap. I had made my way up to 2nd and was closing the gap to the leader, when the rain started again, I had a big crash and lost the rear at Druids. The race was red flagged, due to conditions and the team worked incredibly to get the bike re-built in six minutes and me back into the re-started race. I had to start from the back of the grid but worked my way up to 10th in the five-lap sprint! Obviously, I’m really happy to have been back in podium contention this weekend, so hopefully we can take this momentum to Donington in a couple of weeks’ time. A big thanks to the whole FHO Racing team for their hard work, especially in Race 3.”
Josh Brookes
#25
“Overall it’s been a more positive weekend again really, I keep saying that every weekend, but we are slowly getting closer to the front. Cadwell Park was the first top ten this year, we got another here this weekend and we’re much closer to the front on time as well, so it’s not just about position it’s about how close we are to the front. After the 18-lap race yesterday, bearing in mind we lose two or three seconds on lap one being so far back, I was actually 10 seconds away from the win in the dry, which is more than half the gap of where it was. The FHO Racing team has been working really hard behind the scenes and we are slowly but surely getting closer towards the front. Unfortunately this championship is coming to a close, but we’re still pushing along like we do in every single race, we’ve learnt some more in the rain as well, I’ve always struggling with this bike in the rain in recent years, and again we took another small step forward in the rain, so overall a positive weekend.”
Peter Hickman
#60
