Two-time British Superbike Champion Josh Brookes has made a last-minute deal to ride for the Dafabet Racing team in the two Carole Nash Supertwin Races at the 2023 Isle of Man TT Races.
Brookes will ride the Kawasaki Z650 for the Bristol-based team – owned and run by Roy and Ben Constable – in the two three-lap races, replacing Gary Johnson who was been forced to withdraw from this year’s event after due to injury.
Dafabet Racing have won the Supertwin TT under its former guise as the Lightweight TT on no less than three times, with three successive wins between 2014 and 2016. Dean Harrison claimed his first TT success with the team, which was followed by Ivan Lintin taking a further two victories.
The pace of the team’s highly-developed Kawasaki is abundantly clear 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 also posted a best lap of 119.064mph so will clearly fancy his chances of stepping onto the podium this time around.
Josh Brookes: “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] for letting me take on another class.”
Roy Constable, Team Co-owner: “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 (FHO Racing) 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 3-lap Carole Nash Supertwin Races are scheduled to take place on Tuesday 6th and Friday 9th June.