Broc Parkes

Broc Parkes
Parkes wearing Paul Bird Motorsport colours on an open-top car parade at the 2014 Motorcycle Grand Prix of the Americas
Nationality	Australian
Born	(1981-12-24) 24 December 1981 Hunter Region, New South Wales
Current team	YART Yamaha Official EWC Team
Bike number	7
Website	23 Parkes
Motorcycle racing career statistics MotoGP World Championship Active years 2014–2015 Manufacturers PBM, ART Championships 0 2015 championship position NC (0 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 19 0 0 0 0 9 125cc World Championship Active years 1999 Manufacturers Honda Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 1 0 0 0 0 0

Broc Parkes is an Australian motorcycle racer, best known for his success in the Supersport World Championship. He currently races in the Endurance FIM World Championship aboard a Yamaha YZF-R1.

During 2015 he raced in British Superbikes for half the season, then competed in the Endurance FIM World Championship aboard a YART Yamaha YZF-R1, before being drafted-in to MotoGP on the ART machine for the last race of the season at Valencia, held on 8 November at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Spain.

Early years

He was born on 24 December 1981, and lives in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, resulting in the nickname 'The Boy From the Bush'. Parkes was originally inspired to race as a four-year-old, when he saw countryman Wayne Gardner winning a race. Gardner ultimately became his manager.

Parkes began racing on dirt tracks a year later, with great success. He also raced junior motorcycle speedway and finished second in the 1997 Australian Under-16 Championship in Adelaide. He then switched to circuit racing at the age of sixteen – the legal limit in Australia – going on to win the Australian 125cc title and Australian 250cc Production title in 1999, on Honda machinery.

Going International

Parkes then spent a season in Japan with the Moriwaki squad's Honda equipment, finishing third in the All Japan X Formula series. Parkes then moved to Europe to join the NCR Ducati team for the 2001 World Superbike Championship. He experienced a mechanical failure while running strongly in one race, but he took 16th overall. In 2002 he finished up 11th.

Supersport World Championship

For 2003 he moved to the Supersport World Championship for the BKM Honda team, but the team was late getting race equipment, and did not complete the year due to financial problems. He moved to the crack Ten Kate team for 2004, finishing as championship runner-up behind team-mate Karl Muggeridge. For 2005 he joined Yamaha's factory team, struggling for most of 2005 but ending with a victory to come fifth overall. In 2006 he challenged for the title before a crash at Assen left him critically injured – although he returned before the end of the season to come third overall. He finished a distant second to Kenan Sofuoglu in 2007, with back-to-back wins at Brands Hatch and Lausitzring despite a broken collarbone early in the season, and finished 4th in 2008 despite a series-high six poles and a season-opening victory in Losail

Back to World Superbikes

Parkes at Donington Park Supersport in 2012

For 2009 Parkes returns to World Superbike – on factory Kawasakis ran by Paul Bird Motorsport, teamed with former Grand Prix winner Makoto Tamada. His team often struggled for results, but he shone in a one-off appearance at the British Superbike Championship round at Brands Hatch. Parkes qualified second and finished second in all of the three races held there, only behind the dominant Leon Camier each time.

2010 was also a struggle for Parkes, who joined the new Echo CRS Honda team. He crashed heavily in pre-season and missed the first three rounds, and was usually a backmarker once he returned. Three races before the end of the season Parkes announced that he separated ways with Echo CRS Honda, and he joined the Motocard Kawasaki team, as the replacement of the injured Joan Lascorz. He also raced a few races at the end of the season in World Supersports with the same team.

Parkes continued in Supersports the next two seasons riding a Kawasaki and a Honda, finishing top five both years. In 2013 Parkes returned to Australia and raced for the factory Yamaha team, winning the Australian FX-Superbike Championship.

Move to MotoGP

In December 2013, it was announced that Parkes would be riding for Paul Bird Motorsport alongside Michael Laverty for the 2014 MotoGP season. He effectively replaced his countryman Damian Cudlin and continued a 31 year streak of Australia's representation in the premier class of motorcycle racing.

Parkes on a Milwaukee Yamaha Superbike in early 2015

2015

For the early part of 2015, Parkes rode for Shaun Muir Racing's Milwaukee Yamaha team in the British Superbike Championship, until he became unable to continue due to the after-effects of arm-pump surgery. Parkes then competed in Endurance FIM World Championship races on a Yamaha Austria Racing Team machine, with his final race of the season, a one-off riding for ART at Valencia, held on 8 November at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Spain, when he retired after completing two-thirds of the race.

Career statistics

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season

Season	Class	Motorcycle	Team	Race	Win	Podium	Pole	FLap	Pts	Plcd
1999	125cc	Honda	Scot Walker Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
2014	MotoGP	PBM	Paul Bird Motorsport	18	0	0	0	0	9	23rd
2015	MotoGP	ART	E-Motion IodaRacing Team	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
Total				20	0	0	0	0	9

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Class	Bike	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Pos	Pts
1999	125cc	Honda	MAL	JPN	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GBR	GER	CZE	IMO	VAL	AUS 23	RSA	BRA	ARG			NC	0
2014	MotoGP	PBM	QAT 15	AME Ret	ARG 21	SPA 17	FRA 18	ITA 17	CAT 16	NED 11	GER 21	IND 15	CZE 19	GBR 21	RSM 18	ARA 18	JPN 20	AUS Ret	MAL 14	VAL 20	23rd	9
2015	MotoGP	ART	QAT	AME	ARG	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GER	IND	CZE	GBR	RSM	ARA	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL Ret	NC	0

Superbike World Championship

Races by year

Year	Make	1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		11		12		13		14		Pos	Pts
		R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2
2001	Ducati	SPA Ret	SPA 13	RSA 12	RSA 11	AUS 5	AUS C	JPN 16	JPN 17	ITA DNS	ITA DNS	GBR 20	GBR 14	GER 14	GER Ret	SMR Ret	SMR 7	USA 13	USA 14	EUR DNS	EUR DNS	GER Ret	GER 18	NED 22	NED Ret	ITA Ret	ITA 8			16th	49
2002	Ducati	SPA 15	SPA DNS	AUS Ret	AUS 13	RSA 11	RSA 14	JPN Ret	JPN Ret	ITA Ret	ITA 8	GBR Ret	GBR 12	GER 11	GER Ret	SMR Ret	SMR 14	USA 15	USA 12	GBR Ret	GBR 18	GER 10	GER 10	NED 9	NED 8	ITA 9	ITA 8			11th	77
2009	Kawasaki	AUS Ret	AUS 18	QAT 14	QAT 16	SPA 10	SPA 17	NED	NED	ITA 10	ITA 13	RSA 15	RSA 14	USA Ret	USA 11	SMR 17	SMR 17	GBR 18	GBR 14	CZE 12	CZE 16	GER Ret	GER 13	ITA 10	ITA 15	FRA Ret	FRA 15	POR 11	POR 12	18th	51
2010	Honda	AUS	AUS	POR	POR	SPA	SPA	NED Ret	NED 17	ITA 20	ITA 15	RSA Ret	RSA 18	USA 17	USA 15	SMR DSQ	SMR 17	CZE 13	CZE 12	GBR Ret	GBR Ret	GER	GER	ITA	ITA	FRA	FRA			22nd	9
2013	Yamaha	AUS	AUS	SPA	SPA	NED	NED	ITA	ITA	GBR	GBR	POR	POR	ITA	ITA	RUS	RUS	GBR	GBR	GER	GER	TUR	TUR	USA	USA	FRA	FRA	SPA 18	SPA 12	35th	4

Supersport World Championship

Races by year

Year	Bike	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Pos	Pts
2003	Honda	SPA 7	AUS Ret	JPN 7	ITA 15	GER 5	GBR Ret	SMR 3	GBR 15	NED	ITA	FRA Ret			13th	47
2004	Honda	SPA Ret	AUS 4	SMR Ret	ITA 2	GER 2	GBR 3	GBR 4	NED 4	ITA 2	FRA 2				2nd	135
2005	Yamaha	QAT 6	AUS 7	SPA 6	ITA 7	EUR 5	SMR 5	CZE Ret	GBR Ret	NED 7	GER 2	ITA 5	FRA 1		6th	125
2006	Yamaha	QAT Ret	AUS 3	SPA 4	ITA 7	EUR 2	SMR 3	CZE 2	GBR 1	NED Ret	GER	ITA 6	FRA 3		4th	145
2007	Yamaha	QAT Ret	AUS 3	EUR DNS	SPA 5	NED Ret	ITA Ret	GBR Ret	SMR 2	CZE 13	GBR 1	GER 1	ITA 4	FRA 2	2nd	133
2008	Yamaha	QAT 1	AUS Ret	SPA 4	NED 5	ITA 3	GER 3	SMR 10	CZE 4	GBR 4	EUR 10	ITA 2	FRA Ret	POR 5	4th	150
2010	Kawasaki	AUS	POR	SPA	NED	ITA	RSA	USA	SMR	CZE	GBR	GER 3	ITA 4	FRA Ret	15th	29
2011	Kawasaki	AUS 2	EUR 5	NED 3	ITA 4	SMR 1	SPA Ret	CZE Ret	GBR 6	GER 7	ITA 3	FRA 3	POR Ret		4th	136
2012	Honda	AUS 3	ITA 20	NED 4	ITA Ret	EUR 4	SMR 5	SPA 4	CZE 3	GBR 3	RUS 5	GER 4	POR 4	FRA 27	5th	135

External links

• Official website