Keith Farmer leads the British Superstock 1000 Championship going into the final round, after securing a win and a second place finish on the penultimate round at Oulton Park.

In contrast, Josh Elliott’s faint hopes of reclaiming the title disappeared when he crashed out of the lead.

Clogher rider Farmer came into the race within half a point of the championship lead, but last weekend’s podium was his first top three finish for five races, and he had not visited the top step of the podium since early July.

He had been gathering enough points to stay in contention at the top of the standings and last weekend saw him revisit the track that had given him his first win of this campaign.

“I was glad to get back to Oulton Park because we had good pace there earlier in the year,” he said.

“We were always there or thereabouts but just coming up short. It was hard to nail it down to any one thing. In Cadwell we had so much pace but I clipped a kerb and went down.

“At Silverstone we were on the short track which didn’t help us being on the more powerful bike.

“ It was iffy conditions all weekend, but I was so glad to get back into the box on both races this weekend. It was a bit of a relief.”

Race one on Saturday morning provided changeable track conditions, with damp patches making it tricky for the riders.

Having endured a wet track in practice, the riders were faced with different conditions for qualifying and the race on Saturday.

Farmer had qualified in fifth place on his BMW, but after a steady start he finished strongly to finish just behind championship rival Billy McConnell.

“We started in fifth and struggled throughout the race with a full fuel load,” acknowledged Keith.

“Once the fuel load came down the tyres were a bit less grippy, but we had loads of feeling with the bike then and we got back two and a half seconds on Billy in the last few laps.

“We just lost out by 0.4 seconds. It was a bit frustrating because we should have been further ahead to start with. We only lost five points though so we were five and a half back in the championship.”

Josh Elliott brought his Suzuki home in fifth spot, but he posted the fastest lap of the race to earn himself pole position for race two on Sunday.

The Ballinamallard rider knew he had to produce an almost perfect end to the season if he was to have any chance of clawing his way to the top of the championship standings, and he got off the line well to take an early lead.

His title hopes were abruptly ended at the end of the first lap however, when he crashed out of the lead.

Farmer was picking his way through the pack, and he came strong in the latter stages to secure his third race win of the season.

“The weather conditions were changing all the time, but we went with a wet set up,” he revealed.

“On my out lap I said it was in between and you possibly could have got away with a rear slick, but we stayed with the wets to play it safe and it was the right thing to do. It was dry at the end of the race but it worked out alright.

“We watched what everyone else was doing and let a few other find the grip levels and to come away with the win was good.

“Billy (McConnell) helped us by running off track and he came back on in seventh so it has taken the pressure off a little bit.”

Farmer now knows a top three finish on the final round at Brands Hatch will secure him the title, having opened up a ten and a half point lead over Billy McConnell at the top of the standings.

“It leaves the pressure on him as he has to win,” he said.

“If he wins I have to finish second or third, but he has to win. Hopefully we have a good one at Brands and hopefully we can bring a fourth title home.”

Elliott’s title hopes may have faded at the weekend but he has made a massive impression with his new team, OMG Racing Suzuki, and his successes to date have resulted in OMG Racing entering him into the Superbike class at Assen at the end of the month, where he will partner his good friend and teammate Gino Rea in Britain’s premier class of motorsport.

And the Ballinamallard flyer is excited about the opportunity he has been given by the team.

“I’m really looking forward to riding the OMG Racing Suzuki Superbike as it will be a great experience. I really enjoy riding on the Assen track too.

“There’s not too much of a difference between the Superbike and the Superstock bike with the Suzuki so the transition shouldn’t be too big,” said Elliott.