Elliott out of luck in Portugal

Editorial Department • Published 20 Oct 2011 13:00 0 Comments

Lady Luck once again failed to shine on Ballinamallard speedster Josh Elliott who was forced to retire at the end of lap eight in his last European Superstock 600 race of the year in Portugal at the weekend. The Parkalgar circuit situated in the Algarve was bathed in sunshine all weekend in temperatures well over 30 degrees on occasions, but it was a tough weekend in the Weightmaster Trailers Yamaha camp.

After a promising start of 12th in first practice things took a step back in first qualifying. The rear tyre spun on the rim and turned out to be slightly out-of-round causing vibration, so after a short run Elliott's team opted to sit out the rest of the session saving a tyre for second qualifying. The next day despite a move in the right direction, the team were not able to get a setting that gave Josh the confidence that he needed to get a really fast lap.

A thorough debrief with Josh and his Crew Chief, Andy Jamison, raised a few concerns regarding gearing, and pointed clearly to a direction to follow for the chassis setup and from here Jamison takes up the stoty.

"Race day saw sunny conditions again, with a slight breeze tempering the heat," he commented. "Josh had a blinder of a start, so much of a blinder that it was deemed a jump-start! At the end of lap one Josh had come through from 26th to 12th, and was not only able to run the pace of the group, but felt he was able to run considerably faster in the corners than his fellow riders. Despite improving on his qualification times by nearly half a second, and maintaining his qualification pace till lap five, it was soon obvious that there was a grave issue with the Yamaha's engine, with the little bike posting the slowest outright top speed of all in the race. Although Josh soldiered on till the end of lap eight he was ultimately forced to retire, with no chance of salvaging any points.

Once again Lady Luck has left young Josh in the lurch, but the team feel that a bit of a breakthrough was made with the settings this weekend and that the hard work and never-say-die approach have paid off. It is a great pity though, for Josh, his family and all his generous supporters that the results do not reflect this.

A change in rules for next season's European Stock 600 Championship that will improve the lot of riders unable to test at Championship circuits, see's Josh eager to return next season and reward the faith shown in him by so many! I wish him well in looking forward to 2012!"

Josh was thankful for the effort put in by Jamison.

"I wish I could have had a good result to say a better thank you to everyone who has helped me this year. After all the problems we had in qualifying it would have been easy just to give up, but Andy Jamison put in an unbelievable effort to get my bike right for the race. I knew I had moved a bit at the start as I engaged the clutch and was getting a 20 second penalty no matter, so I just went for it! It was great to make some good moves through the first lap and make up quite a few places as the bike felt very good. Unfortunately the engine started to slow and I was getting passed with ease on the straights. When it started cutting out it got dangerous so I had to retire. I want to say a massive thank you to everyone who has supported me this year in any way and hope I can keep everybody on board for next year to repay them properly."

Josh's team are travelling directly home and were planning to use his Superstock 600 machine in the Sunflower trophy races at Bishopscourt, Co Down next weekend. Unfortunately, with the damaged engine the bike will not be repaired in time however there may be still the possibility Josh can race if he can secure another bike for the popular end of season event.

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This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 20 Oct 11

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