definitely stuck with me and I am
always interested to know why
the bike does what it does. I’m
never satisfied to just sit on it and
think: “oh it’s working really good
this weekend, but I don’t know
why.” I always strive to know why;
give me the answers as to why
it’s good this weekend and why it
was bad last weekend.
Away from racing, you seem
to be a big outdoors guy,
especially when you are back
home in Australia. You seem to
have a lot of fun hobbies like
MX, trials, jet skiing etc…
Yeah I think it’s because I’ve never
been one to be in the gym. A lot
of guys can find motivation to
be in a gym and actually enjoy
working out. They can really
concentrate on training towards
being fitter and stronger in the
gym and I never really got into
that routine. I think it might be
from having bad MX injuries
when I was a kid. I tore my ACL
and they said you’re too young
to have an operation; you’re just
going to have to work all the
muscles up to compensate. So at
home we had a gym with all this
apparatus made to try and build
the muscle in my leg to keep it
strong as I had spent 6 months on
crutches and braces and all this
sort of crap. I think that set a bad
seed because I was so young and
wasn’t just riding bikes for fun.
I was getting injured and having
to do lots of rehab and recovery.
I think doing it at home in a gym
at such an early age just seemed
like it ruined that style of training
for me.
I’ve always tried to find other
methods to be fit as you
mentioned, such as MTB and
MX. When you are in Australia it’s
always hot, so you find yourself
around the water a lot. Jet skis
seemed like the most logical next
thing for me. When you fall off a
motocross bike you can get pretty
badly hurt, whereas when you fall
off a jet ski you are in the water.
I mean you can make anything
as dangerous as you want, but
76 | FreestyleXtreme.com
Career Highlights: Josh Brookes
British Superbike Championship Rider
Team: Milwaukee Yamaha
Born: 28 April 1983, Sydney, New South Wales,
Australia
Career Stats:
2013 British Superbike Championship (3rd)
2012 British Superbike Championship (2nd)
2011 British Superbike Championship (5th)
2010 British Superbike Championship (2nd)
2009 British Superbike Championship (4th)
2008 World Supersport Championship (3rd).
2007 World Superbike Championship (first
seven rounds) then switched to World
Supersport Championship for final five rounds
2006 World Supersport Championship (best
race result 6th). Switched to World Superbike
Championship
2005 Australian Superbike Champion
Australian Supersport Champion
Suzuka 8 Hour (6th)
2004 World Supersport Championship - Wild
Card Entry at Phillip Island (1st)
2003 Australian Supersport Championship (4th)
2002 Australian Superbike Championship (2nd)
2001 Australian Supersport Champion
Australian Rider of the Year
2000 Australian 125cc Championship (2nd)
there is an element of safety on
the water. I try and keep myself
entertained whilst training and I
feel I put in a lot more effort when
I’m having fun.
It’s just like MTB riding - when
you’re road cycling you’re just
doing it because you know it’s
good for you, but when you are
MTB riding you will do three or
four hours just because it’s fun.
I always try and find that unique
moment where I’m enjoying it
rather than hating it and just doing
it because I have to.
Your helmets this year are
sporting some really cool
designs, replicating various
MX legends like Damon
Bradshaw, Rick Johnson etc.
Is that in homage to your MX
background?
Yeah, they are for anyone who
will appreciate what the helmets
are. I mean with some people it