A slow start to the the 2017 season for Josh Elliott was far in the distance on Sunday when he finished the campaign with a highflying performance to secure a podium at the the final event of the Pirelli National STK1000 Championship at Brands Hatch. 
Ending the season on a high has left Josh looking already to next year and securing a deal to be competitive from the very start. 
“I really enjoyed being back and I hope to secure a good full time ride and the all-important sponsors for next year to help make it happen,” revealed Josh who is taking plenty of confidence from his good end to the year. 
“I’m delighted to finish the season on the podium for myself and the Tyco BMW team. It was a difficult weekend and set up plus technical problems hurt us so qualifying ninth gave me a lot of work to do. We made changes for warm up and another for the race and it really made a big difference,” he added. 
“I had a few problems early in the race which meant I couldn’t break the pack so easy but when I managed to overcome them, I had the pace to chase a podium. Massive thank you to everyone in the Tyco BMW team for their relentless effort and Philip Neill for giving me the opportunity to ride for the last half of the season. Thank you to my family and everyone who supports me. I couldn’t do it without you,” concluded the former champion.
In a bullish mood on Sunday, Josh was determined to end his late-starting season in the best way possible by leading morning warm-up and even a small issue on the warm-up lap prior to the race couldn’t shake the Northern Irishman’s determination.
Having to stop, switch off and reset his bike twice during Saturday’s sole qualifying session didn’t help given qualifying times within the STK1000 Championship are traditionally tight. 
Howver, after a huge effort to make ground, Josh found himself just 0.104 seconds adrift of the fifth fastest time however, such is the nature of the competition, four places behind on the grid in ninth.
In one of his best starts in recent races, Josh squeezed through to eighth place as the pack streamed up in to Druids for the first time. 
High sides for two riders out of the first left-hander at Graham Hill Bend saw the safety car deployed after the Ballinamallard man had made it through to sixth place. 
As the race resumed it was clear that Josh and his Tyco BMW had the pace of those around him although a fight back from one competitor briefly slowed Josh’s charge towards the leading riders ahead when he dealt with an intermittent gear shifter issue.
After taking care of the attentions of Collier and a dogged Olsen, it was Sam Clarke next in line, lapping visually faster than the Yamaha, slipping past in the favoured Hawthorns on lap 10. 
The gap to third place man Rouse looked wholly surmountable as Elliott continued with his imperious pace in pursuit of a final podium of the season. Taking 0.6s a lap out of the fellow BMW rider, a mature show of patience saw Elliott wait until he knew he could pass cleanly and make it count. 
Good drive from the Tyco BMW out of Stirling’s saw one final pass down Pilgrim’s Drop and in to Hawthorns leave Rouse with no answer in the closing corners leaving Elliott to end the season on a high with a third podium in four races.
Even though Josh missed the first four rounds of the Championship before being drafted in to replace the injured Ian Hutchinson, Josh and his Tyco BMW team showed their undoubted class by finishing ninth in the Championship with 118 points. 
This was an impressive total when you consider missing out on points in the second race at Knockhill and sitting out both Snetterton races due to deputising for the injured Christian Iddon on the Superbike.