Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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IN THE WIND P32 BROOKES BLASTS CLEAR IN BSB Josh Brookes stays on top at Cadwell Park, his third British Superbike sweep in a row. M ilwaukee Yamaha rider Josh Brookes has taken his third double victory in a row at the latest round of the Brit- ish Superbike Championship at Cadwell Park on August 23. The Australian has been on form of late and put the Yamaha YZF-R1M on pole by .4 of a second. He proceeded to run away with race one following a safety car that was deployed when Kawasaki rider Danny Bu- chan launched himself from his machine over the treacherous Mountain jump on lap eight. Brookes would keep his com- posure, however, stretching his advantage to 1.8 seconds at the flag from Peter Hickman, who was fresh off his first internation- al road race victory at the Ulster Grand Prix. There was delight also at the Smiths Racing BMW camp as last year's BSB Supersport Champion Billy McConnell took his first ever Superbike podium after a stellar pass on Tyco BMW's Tommy Bridewell on the final lap at Coppice. Race two was almost a carbon copy of race one for Brookes, as the championship leader took the holeshot and proceeded to build up a winning margin of 5.08 seconds at the flag over Hickman and Bride- well. "The bike feels like an exten- sion of my body at the moment— I am sure it appears easy, but it isn't," Brookes said. "I am really pleased for the Milwaukee Yamaha team and everything is all working really well now so we are looking forward to Oulton Park." Reigning champ Shane Byrne finished just outside of the po- dium in fourth, an improvement from his sixth-place finish in race one. The PBM Kawasaki rider continues to struggle while his championship rival Brookes has made a late season surge, lead- ing Byrne by 39 points ahead of the decisive round at Oulton Park on September 4-6 before the three-round Showdown. Byrne and Brookes have already qualified for the Showdown, but the final four spots are up for grabs. American John Hopkins' run of form on the Lloyds British Moto Rapido Ducati Panigale R came to an end at Cadwell, with the former MotoGP podium finisher only carding DNF-16 finishes. In the Supersport category, Triumph Daytona 675 R riders Luke Stapleford and Jake Dixon shared race wins with Yamaha's Kyle Ryde taking 2-3 results. American James Rispoli con- tinued his good run at Cadwell, carding a pair of fourths to move up to fifth in the standings on 142 points. Stapleford, however, looks like he's in the box seat to take the championship, sitting on 314 points to Ryde's 277. CN PHOTO COURTESY OF BSB