Josh Elliott on the podium at Thruxton.
After a trying few rounds in the Superstock 1000 Championship, Josh Elliott was relieved to finally get something approaching a clear run at a race in Thruxton last weekend.
The upshot was being in real contention at the front and ultimately a place on the third step of the podium.
“After this past few rounds it was great to get back on the podium,” said the Ballinamallard rider. “I went well at Thruxton last year and going into it I was very confident. All through the weekend we were getting faster and faster. I was leading the race for four or five laps. That did a lot for my confidence because it was the first race I’ve lead from the front.”
In the end the chance to press for the victory slipped past when Honda rider Keith Farmer threw a spanner in the works.
“It was just unfortunate at the end. Taylor Mackenzie came past me on lap nine and I was just lining him up for a pass on the last lap when Keith Farmer came past me and messed my plans up. That left me fighting for second.
“It was disappointing because I knew I had the pace in the bike and it was capable of winning. I was disappointed at the end of the race, but it was still nice to get back on the podium and gather some more points.
“I’ll take confidence from getting to the front. Obviously going into Brands Hatch in the next round I know I can do that now. I know where Mackenzie’s strong points are now, because I got a chance to be behind him for a while so the next round should be interesting. Hopefully we can get back up there and be fighting for the win.”
It has been a learning season for Elliott, but now he is confident he can extract the best from his machinery and get back to consistently challenging for podium places.
“Brands Hatch is a track I won at last year, I like the track. It’s just a matter of getting the BMW around it. It’s a technical track, there’s a lot of blind crests and fast corners on it so I think it’ll suit the BMW and I’m looking forward to being competitive there.”
Elliott is realistic about the championship standings and is focusing now on finishing the season out in style and showing the public the quality rider he is.
“We’re a good bit behind Taylor Mackenzie so at the minute we’re just looking to go out and get as many wins as possible before the end of the season. The ultimate goal really is to secure a superbike ride for next year.
“The past few rounds things haven’t really gone our way so we have to accept that and do our best from here on in. It’s helping me learn and making me a better rider so there are positives there.”
Superstock 1000 Championship standings
Pos Rider Pts
1 Taylor Mackenzie 133
2 Ian Hutchinson 110
3 Keith Farmer 106
4 Joshua Elliott 88
5 Michael Rutter 77