Josh Elliott is approaching the British Superstock championship in confident mood after a positive test session on board his Kawasaki. The Ballinamallard rider has returned from Spain after a four day session with Morello Racing, and having re-familiarised himself with the bike he took to the title in 2015 he is hopeful he can repeat that feat when the season gets underway in less than a month.
“The bike feels good,” he admitted. 
“It was good to get out with the team and it was a positive test. We got through a lot of stuff and learnt a lot. You can only really judge it on lap times, and the lap times look pretty good. We were working on the set up of the bike. The team have a base set up from last year and it needs to be adjusted to what I need. The suspension set up, electronics, traction control and fuelling. Every rider has different preferences but we are not too far away from what they had last year which is good.”
The grid for this season’s championship is packed with quality, experienced riders, and Josh admits it is going to be harder than ever to take the crown. 
“It going to be as tough as it has ever been,” he acknowledged. 
“There are a lot of fast riders coming into it and some who have stayed in it from last year. The likes of the superbike riders and even Keith Farmer who is going to be full of confidence after last year. Lee Jackson and Billy McConnell are coming down from Superbike. Alastair Seeley is back in it as well. There are a lot of champions in there. A lot of experience as well, so it is going to be ultra-competitive. There are going to six or seven very quick riders who are going to be battling every weekend. It is definitely going to be an exciting championship with exciting racing. The competition is going to be tough.”
Despite the unprecedented level of competition Josh remains confident that he can come out on top, and has targeted a fast start to his season. 
“We are definitely going out there to win it,” he said.
 “We are trying to put a big effort into the testing and get the bike to a place where we can take the most out of it. I know that if the bike is anywhere near then I will be competitive. It’s about being there and having the bike to be able to challenge and I will do the rest. 
“There is no reason why we can’t be up there. The first few rounds are important to get points and we will be trying to be finishing as high up as possible. With the weather at the minute it’s hard to know what it will be like but it could be cold and it could be wet so we will have to take it as it comes and see what happens.”
Josh has another two-day test with the team at Caldwell Park next week, before an official testing session later in the month. The championship gets underway over the last weekend of March with the first round at Donnington Park.