Australian rider Brookes, 40, is on the island to compete in the Superbike and Superstock TTs for the FHO Racing BMW squad, with whom he is a front runner in this year’s British superbike series, but has also added a last-minute deal to also ride for the Dafabet Racing team in the two Carole Nash backed races at the 2023 Isle of Man TT Races.
Brookes will ride a heavily modified Kawasaki Z650 for the Bristol-based team, owned and run by Roy and Ben Constable, in the two three-lap races, replacing Johnson who was been forced to withdraw from this year’s event after due to injury sustained at a road racing event in the Czech Republic earlier this month. Johnson is one of three seeded riders to miss out on this year’s TT through injury, with Lee Johnston and Nathan Harrison both missing out after big crashes at the recent North West 200. Irish rider Michael Sweeney, slated to start 17th in the Supertwins, is another popular rider to be sidelined after a crash at the North West 200, the Skerries man breaking his back and ribs after crashing his Paton in the first Supertwin race.
Dafabet Racing have won the Supertwin TT, under its former guise as the Lightweight TT, three times before, with successive wins between 2014 and 2016. Future Senior TT winner Dean Harrison claimed his first TT success with the team, which was followed by Ivan Lintin taking a further two victories.
The speed of the team’s highly-tuned Kawasaki is unquestionable and although Brookes’ experience of the class is limited, he took a fine sixth place in the 2017 Lightweight race – his sole outing to date on Supertwin machinery. Brookes has posted a best lap of 119.064mph that outing and, as well as being able to take advantage of the extra track time in the Supertwin sessions, the Aussie will surely fancy his chances of a first ever TT podium finish in the class.
Speaking about his decision to add the Supertwin TTs to his TT 2023 programme, Josh Brookes said: “With coming back (to the TT) after a few years, the plan was for me to just focus on riding the one bike, but I got the call from the team and it’s hard to turn down an offer on such a competitive bike! I’m looking forward to trying it out and seeing how we get on, and I want to say thanks to Roy and Ben (Constable) for bringing me in and to Faye (Ho, FHO Racing team owner) for letting me take on another class.”
Roy Constable, Team Co-owner at Dafabet Racing, added: “We’re absolutely delighted that we have got Josh on board for the TT. To have a rider of his undoubted calibre and experience on our Kawasaki Z650 is a massive achievement and shows the credibility our team still holds. I’d like to say thank you to Faye for allowing us to borrow Josh for these races and to the Isle of Man organisers and Kawasaki for getting us back on the grid. I’d also like to wish Gary all the best and hope he gets well soon.”
The two three-lap Carole Nash Supertwin TT are scheduled to take place on Tuesday 6 and Friday 9 June, with live coverage on the TT+ streaming service and exclusive news and features through Carole Nash’s own social media channels.
