Josh Elliott enjoyed one of his best weekends of the season as a new improved bike helped him to a superb fourth place finish in the British Superstock 1000 Championship at Silverstone at the weekend.

Elliott qualified in fourth as he started to reap the dividends of his newly rebuilt engine and it was a position to he was to secure in the race itself although there was much more to the race than that as he battled throughout for a podium finish only to be edged into fourth on the final lap.

Still, though, the points have moved him up to sixth in the championship table and he will now look forward with much anticipation to the final round of the championship in two weeks at Brands Hatch.

A delighted Elliott enthused after the race with his much imporved bike.

“I’m very happy to be challenging at the front. The bike is much improved after my GA Racing team got the engine properly refreshed by MSS in Colchester and it helped me fight with the top championship contenders,” explained Josh. “I had a great battle with Jason O’Halloran early in the race and was gunning for the podium but unfortunately I lost out to Hudson Kennaugh on the last lap when he forced me wide. Missing the second qualifying session hurt us a bit as we needed to try something that might have given me better tyre management for the race, but we couldn’t gamble on it. Still, we go away with good points and I’m very thankful for the sponsors than helped rebuild my engine and those that came along here to support me.” The weekend started well for 19-year-old Josh. In cool but dry conditions a strong first free practice session saw the Fermanagh man lay down a marker, slotting into fourth place. He improved by a second and closed the gap to the top three to a few tenths in first qualifying to retain fourth but a downpour of heavy rain the following day prevented any further improvement as the final qualifying session had to be cancelled.

The skies were clear on race day and Elliott lined up on the second row for his race. To the delight of his crew and travelling supporters he managed his best start of the season to take third into the first corner. It wasn’t long into lap one that the young man saw the opportunity to take second and made a clean move to take it from factory Honda rider Jason O’Halloran.

With series leader Danny Buchan making a break at the front all the action was with the battle behind. Elliott set a strong pace looking comfortable until well into lap three when O’Halloran retook the position but managed to stay with the highly rated Honda rider until about half race distance. A slight moment by the Australian meant Elliott having to lift and move offline thus losing him the ‘tow’. With the pace hot it was then a case of preserving third and securing the last podium place. He managed to hold off the attention of reigning champion Hudson Kennaugh and Joe Burns until the last lap but an exchange of passes dealt a cruel blow to the Ulsterman as he fought to retain third.

Kennaugh made contact as he put a hard move on him causing the Kawasaki rider to lift off. Elliott tried very hard to recover but with only a short part of the lap left, he was unable to make the time back. Fourth it was in the end but a fantastic race and good points moving him up to sixth in the championship with one round to go.

Team principal Gene Adam commented, “That was the Josh we know. He was stunning today, rightly got fantastic TV coverage and we are delighted with his performance against some top top riders and machinery. My thanks go out to Socialites Electric Cigarettes for having the belief in us and all the team sponsors without whom this wouldn’t be possible.”