Final question. When you first
came to BSB, you gained a
bit of a reputation, unfairly I
might add, but the label of “bad
boy Brookes” has been hard
for you to shake during your
BSB career. You have a good
following in the UK now. Have
the fans finally changed in their
approach to you?
Definitely! You know I actually
took that really badly - throughout
my career I’ve had my own
problems with getting taken out
by dangerous riders. Earlier we
talked about the wild card win
in Philip Island. Well a couple of
weeks later a guy out of control
crashed into me and broke my
pelvis.
I’ve had my moments of being
taken out by dangerous riders,
experienced crap things and have
been on the receiving end rather
than being the rider that’s done
the wrong thing. When the tides
had turned and I had no brakes
at Donington and hit Guintoli
breaking his leg, followed by that
mistake I made at Mallory, I got
labelled and type cast as this
dangerous rider. It didn’t really
affect my race results, but it
affected me as a person at home
and in my own time. I actually got
quite annoyed that I’d been put
in this position and categorised
as this person, so it did upset me
quite a bit, but I tried not to let it
affect my racing because at the
end of the day, what people think
of you isn’t really that important.
Racing bikes is what’s important
to us, and I’m sure you
understand that. I’ve actually tried
not to fix things, but just tried to
be myself and then eventually
people will understand that I’m
not actually that person. I don’t fit
into that category. It’s taken a lot
of years, but things like jumping
the jump at Cadwell really helped.
I really thank Cadwell Park for
having that jump there, because
it’s given people an opportunity
to go “you know what he made
a mistake but we enjoy watching
him”. That jump alone gave me
78 | FreestyleXtreme.com
that crucial moment for people
just to give me a chance. It helped
me engage with the UK fans but
also to have some great battles
with the likes of yourself, Shakey
and all the guys at the top of BSB.
Being there every week racing bar
to bar and not actually being that
person that takes everyone out
has eventually kind of washed out
that bad rep I originally started
with. I’m glad to finally be in this
position and hope I never have
a moment where I have to relive
that feeling again.
It must be frustrating that you
run that risk of just one small
mistake and every one jumps
on the bandwagon that “bad
boy Brookes” is back…
I’ve said this before in interviews,
even years ago - I don’t actually
blame the people because they
can only make their decision
based on what they have seen,
read or heard.
When you see the accident or see
the photos, it looks really bad.
When you read an article that
claims: “Josh went and took out
all these people” and it doesn’t
say that the brakes were broken,
it only says that “there is no proof
that the brakes were broken”.
This doesn’t mean they weren’t
broken, it just means that they
couldn’t find any proof to say that
they were. There are so many
things that happen in a certain
way that if I was a spectator and
I didn’t know about all the details
that happen in racing, I would
have probably jumped on that
same bandwagon and gone “what
an idiot!” So I don’t actually blame
the people. I didn’t take offence
from any individuals; I just got
upset with the situation and wish
it could have been different. T
/joshbrookes25
@JoshBrookes