The Jackson Racing Honda powered by Prosper2 team enjoyed a strong opening day of racing at the Isle of Man TT Races on Monday with Josh Brookes taking an excellent fifth place finish in the Supersport TT race. The Australian backed that up with a solid eighth in the Superbike race where team-mate Paul Jordan set a personal best lap on his way to tenth.
With weather conditions playing havoc with the schedule throughout the event, the Supersport race was moved from Saturday to Monday and cut from four laps to three, Brookes lapping at 124.442mph on the opening lap of the 37 and ¾-mile Mountain Course to slot into seventh place.
A slick pit stop helped him gain time on the riders ahead of him, and circulating on the road with Davey Todd, Josh moved up to fifth on lap two. Aided by his quickest lap of the race on lap three, 125.950mph, he was able to complete the 113 miles in an excellent fifth place, 10s down on fellow Honda rider Todd. Jordan had been on course himself for a top six finish only to retire at Glentramman half way round the first lap.
Both riders had earlier enjoyed strong rides in the Superbike race. Originally due to be held over six laps on Sunday, the race was moved a day and reduced to four laps, Josh the quicker of the two riders on the opening lap at 130.283mph. That put him in eighth place with Paul slightly further back in 13th, his first lap being 129.311mph.
Lap two saw Josh move up to sixth but throughout the second half of the race, he was locked in battle with fellow Honda riders James Hillier and John McGuinness where despite another 130mph+ lap on the fourth lap, he had to settle for eighth at the chequered flag. Paul, meanwhile, made steady progress and with his final lap being a new personal best, 129.622mph, he was able to finish in a fine tenth place.
Josh Brookes: “It feels a bit strange for the Supersport race to give me my best result as it’s not a class I compete in regularly, but the bike never missed a beat, and I felt comfortable sitting with Davey. He caught me pretty quickly and I was expecting him to gradually pull away, but I was able to stick with him fairly easily which seemed a bit strange so maybe he got stuck in a certain pace whilst I also knew it would have been difficult to overtake him and claw back the ten seconds. It was close to 126mph pace so there’s clearly areas for us to improve given the speed of the front runners.”
“I was a bit disappointed with the Superbike result and lap times to be honest and I expected a bit more. A few Hondas finished ahead of me so there’s clearly more speed to be found but it’s taking me a while to get comfortable with the bike and I’m not a rider to take unnecessary risks. Some riders can hit the 133+ laps straightaway whereas I’m a slow burner, steadily getting quicker as the event progresses. A bit of self-preservation kicks in when I’m not totally comfortable or confident but today has given us a bit more of a direction and it’s all a process where we build and build so I’m hoping to perform better in the other big bike races.”
Paul Jordan: “It’s been a mixed day and I’m bitterly disappointed to have retired from the Supersport race. I made a really good start to the race to slot into the top six and felt comfortable with the pace I was running, confident I’d have been in the mix for a fourth or fifth place finish throughout. It wasn’t to be, but we get another chance later in the week. The Superbike race went reasonably well and it’s hard to be disappointed with a top ten and a new PB in a Superbike race at the TT. Michael Evans came by me, and we ran together for much of the race, but I know there’s more pace there so hopefully we can improve on that in the other races.”
Alan Jackson, Team Owner: “After a challenging qualifying week for everyone, it’s been good to finally go racing and with three top ten finishes, including one top five, it’s been a good day for the team. Both riders have been steadily improving throughout the event and for Josh to finish fifth in the Supersport race, only 10s behind the rider who won the Superbike race, is very pleasing. It was a shame for Paul to retire obviously but earlier in the day both him and Josh rode well to both finish in the top ten. We’ve learnt a lot today and there are plenty of positives to take away and we know we can make further changes and improvements to help the riders even more.”
The team are back in action in Tuesday’s three-lap Superstock race set to get underway at 10.45am.
Pictures by Tim Keeton – Impact Images Photography
RST x D30 Superbike race (4 laps)
1 Davey Todd (BMW)
2 Michael Dunlop (BMW)
3 Dean Harrison (Honda)
4 Nathan Harrison (Honda)
5 David Johnson (Kawasaki)
6 James Hillier (Honda)
8 Josh Brookes (Jackson Racing Honda powered by Prosper2)
10 Paul Jordan (Jackson Racing Honda powered by Prosper2)
Monster Energy Supersport race (3 laps)
1 Michael Dunlop (Ducati)
2 Dean Harrison (Honda)
3 James Hillier (Kawasaki)
4 Davey Todd (Honda)
5 Josh Brookes (Jackson Racing Honda powered by Prosper 2)
6 Rob Hodson (Yamaha)
DNF Paul Jordan (Jackson Racing Honda powered by Prosper 2)