Double champion Josh Brookes admits that the DAO Racing Honda team still have some work to do ahead of the opening round of the 2026 ZYN British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park next weekend (May 2/3/4).
Following the final R&G Official Test at Oulton Park, Brookes ended 15th overall on combined times and still trying to find a set-up he was comfortable with for the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade. The Australian was victorious at the circuit last season to claim his 57th race win in the championship.
Brookes said: "I hoped that our final day of testing would prove to be fruitful in the way of cementing our final arrangement of changes, and that we’d be content with our work as we enter the opening round.
“However, I feel like a lot of the changes we made sort of danced around the problem, not really improving the package that we had from day one for example. I didn’t get a chance to improve my lap time, I did crash in the process, so it proves we’re pushing to the limits, but we are still trying to find the best out of the bike. There are areas we can improve the package, we have made good steps in the run up to the final day, but I just think we’re missing that final touch.
“It’s not all doom and gloom, it’s just a little bit of a reality check for me, the next time we’ll be on the bike is at round one, we do have a little bit more work to do to try and understand where we can be a little more competitive. I can’t thank the team enough though, they’re working hard with me to find a solution and I’m sure we’ll be able to come the first race.”