It has been since 2018 that Josh Brookes last raced the Supersport class at the Isle of Man TT, but that absence will end this year as the Australian joins Mike Browne in the Russell Racing Yamaha team.
With rumours of the arrival of the Yamaha R9, the days of the Yamaha R6’s dominance of the Supersport class seem to be numbered, but its presence is guaranteed still for 2024 at the Isle of Man TT, at least in the case of Russell Racing.
Alister Russell’s squad will field Josh Brookes and Mike Browne in 2024. Brookes had returned to the TT for the first time in 2023 since before the Covid years, but only competed in the Superstock, Superbike, and Supertwin classes.
The result of Brookes’ long-term absence from the Supersport class is that his experience on the Yamaha R6 is relatively limited (despite finishing sixth in both 2018 races with the McAMS Yamaha team), but the same cannot be said for his Supersport-class teammate, Mike Browne, who has raced the R6 in each of the past two seasons with the Burrows Engineering/RK Racing team, with a best race finish of ninth in 2022. Last year, Browne set his best Supersport lap at over 125mph in qualifying.
Josh Brooks said: “I had a bit of FOMO in the Supersport races last year and had a couple of opportunities pop up for potentially riding in the class this year, so I had the luxury of some choices to make.
“Alister's bike was the most attractive to me and that's why I chose to contact him and further the conversation to get the deal across the line. Now that it’s all in place, I’m looking forward to being on the middleweight bike again and see how the 600 performs.”
Mike Browne said: “I’m obviously delighted to be joining Alister and the team. I was very surprised when we first talked and that he might be interested in running me this year as he's obviously had a very high calibre of riders these last few years. I don't think I'm at the level of the riders he's had but with his experience and what he's proven he can do these last few years; I’m hoping he can bring me to that level.
“I love the way him and the team go about their racing. They just get it done and do all their talking on the track. I’m just looking forward now to going testing and getting comfortable on the bikes ahead of the TT.”
The 2024 Isle of Man TT is scheduled for the two weeks from 27 May - 8 June.
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