27 February 2016

Race 2 Report – 2016 World Superbikes Australian Round

Phillip Island, Sunday, February 28th

Josh Brookes:
Grid: 13th
Finish: 9th

“It’s good to get more points today at home, and I’m pleased that I could push for longer and more consistently. We made a lot of changes to the bike overnight; they weren’t big changes but they definitely improved the bike. I managed to find ten seconds over the race distance from yesterday, which is a great job by the team, and they recognised some of the areas I was struggling with.

It’s always a risk to make bike changes between races, and it’s just as easy to make a positive change as a negative change, but real credit to the Milwaukee BMW team for giving me that bit more confidence to push.

There’s still some things I want to try with the throttle and the electronics, but we’ve got a good base to build on now to improve things like grip and power. There’s a bit of work to do before we get to Thailand, but I think we’re in a position now to bring all our data together and close the gap to the leaders.”

Karel Abraham:
Grid: 15th
Finish: 11th

“I’m really happy that we could bring home points in both races this weekend. The team did some great work on the bike, so I’m really proud of them. When I think that I haven’t raced for so many months, I’m happy to have finished both races and run consistently.

Because we had limited running in the winter we treated this weekend a bit like a test, but even so I think it went really well. We made changes to the bike every session and I could try new things with my riding each time, so it does seem to be getting better and better.

I know that I can push harder on the bike and get more from it, because I had a few small problems getting the tyres to work for me. But overall, it’s great to get some more points and I’m really looking forward to racing again in Thailand.”

Shaun Muir, Team Principal:

“Considering where we started on Monday and where we are today, there’s a happy atmosphere in both sides of the garage. We’ve made a considerable number of changes, and made giant steps forward as a result.

Overall we got two solid finishes, with both riders in the points. The most important development is our race pace, where Josh took around eight seconds off his race distance and Karel ten, which shows what a big step forward we’ve taken.

We can leave here with our heads held high, and now focus on starting afresh in Thailand in two weeks’ time.”