Josh Elliott remains in pole position to win the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship after a second placed finish at Oulton Park last weekend.

The Ballinamallard rider saw his lead at the top of the series trimmed to seventeen points by Alastair Seeley, but with only two rounds remaining the 20 year old knows two second place finishes will be enough to take the crown.

Josh once again demonstrated his pace in qualifying, topping the time sheets on board his Morello Racing Team Kawasaki. It looked as though he would carry that pace through to the race and claim yet another win, but gear selection problems dented his chances and allowed Seeley past to take the top spot. Despite not taking maximum points Josh was content with his weekend’s work.

“It was still a good weekend,” said Josh. “We were fastest in Q1 and got pole position and I was very confident for the race because I thought I had a better pace than everyone else. I was second behind Hudson Kennaugh and the safety car came out and we were behind it for a few laps. I really wanted to get past Hudson because I knew that Alastair was behind me and was looking to make a move. When the safety car went in I was able to get past Hudson straight away and get the lead and then I tried to put in some fast laps.” It looked as though Josh was in the mood to pull away from the chasing pack, but the gearbox started giving problems and that forced him back into the clutches of Seeley. “I had made a break from Alastair but I had an issue going into the last corner,” he revealed. “I went back three gears and I thought I had only gone back two and I had a big slide and that allowed him to get on my back wheel. If I hadn’t had that problem I would have been able to maintain my lead but I then just had to try to manage it to the best of my ability to ride around and make sure I get good points. Alastair made his move and passed me on lap twelve with two laps to go. I sat behind him and if the opportunity came to take the pass I was going to take it, but it didn’t arrive I wasn’t going to try to force the opportunity so I just brought it home to get good points for the championship.” The penultimate race of the series is at Silverstone in a month’s time and Josh will go into the meeting knowing he could emerge as champion if he has a good run and Seeley hits problems. A win for the Fermanagh man combined with Seeley finishing outside the top ten would hand him the crown with a race to spare, but he admits he is preparing for the chase for the title to go all the way to the final nerve jangling final laps of the season. “If Alastair doesn’t finish and I get good points I could win it but that is unlikely because he is riding pretty well,” he said. “I can finish second in the next two races and still win it, so I will just try to keep chipping away and try to get good points. There are obviously nerves because it is the first time I have ever been in with a chance of winning a British Championship, but they are good nerves. It is making me work harder, and it is all massive experience, especially against Alastair. He has been there and done it. I am up against good opposition and the Tyco BMW team are very experienced as well, so to be beating them and beating them well in places, is giving me lots of confidence.”