DRASTIC changes to your bike immediately prior to a race is never a good thing – but it seemed to work for Bradford's David Brook in the ninth and final round of the Thundersport GP1 and Superstock 1000 season at Cadwell Park.

On a weekend where the cold weather and overnight rain made tyre choices difficult, the Clayton Heights man knew the changes that he had made had worked before he had even left the paddock.

After problems in qualifying, Brook finished fourth, sixth and third in the three races, and was third in the overall standings on 222 points.

He said: "The weekend started well. I was fast and smooth throughout testing and felt positive for qualifying.

"I badly wanted to break my personal best, despite the cold weather, but qualifying didn't go as expected.

"The problem with set-up is it doesn't always translate on new tyres but I expected the small issues to go away once I had the grip of fresh rubber.

"They didn't, and were highlighted even more with the cold weather, so the set-up I had in the summer from the previous round just didn't work."

Brook added: "All that I had planned, and there isn't a day that goes by between rounds when you don't think abut your racing, was going pear-shaped.

"I had a cup of tea, thought about the issues with the set-up and made a decision to change the bike fairly drastically.

"I had no chance to test the changes as we were straight into a race but I hadn't even got to the holding area and I knew I had made the right decision by the way the bike handled in the paddock.

"I managed a fourth place in race one and broke my personal best by 0.5 seconds."

The tyre choice for race two was made more difficult because of overnight rain, and Brook revealed: "After a poor start, I realised the compound of tyre I had chosen was taking some getting used to.

"The front tyre felt like it was going to fold everywhere.

"I went backwards for the first few laps until I found some feel and started to move back up the field.

"Race three was awesome. I opted to go back to the tyre I had used previously in wet races, and the feel was there immediately, which was handy because the track was soaked.

"I got a good start and plugged away. I had found a really good set-up, and once I found my rhythm I felt really comfortable.

"A podium in GP1 and Superstock 1000 was a great way to end the season."