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We set off from Misano in the heat and stopped half way to Brno at a fantastic wee Austrian campsite beside a lake called Ossiacher See. It was highly recommended to us by James Toseland’s motor home driver and he was bang on!
After a swim in the lake, a cycle up to a chateau in the hills above the lake I tucked into a feed of pasta and the finest German sausages that a nearby Lidl could supply! We made it to Brno the following evening after sitting in a traffic jam around Vienna for an age!
Well, I had a good test at Brno where we made a lot of progress with the set-up of the bike due to the help of dad and Gino Rea’s crew chief Andy Stone. I felt very confident going into the 6th round of the European Superstock championship knowing I could run the pace of last year’s race.
I had a full week to mess about and train before the big race so dad and I decided to take a cycle to a lake through a huge forest right beside the track. It must have been the funniest cycle I’ve ever been on listening to dad complaining every other second about how hot it was and the monstrous hill climbs we had to do haha. By the time we reached the lake we took a well deserved break down by the shore and sun bathed for a while. The heat was unbelievable must have been high 30’s that day and dad was half dead by the time we cycled back to the paddock as it was all up hill! haha
Rolling on a couple of days of absolute boredom lying about in the paddock free practice went really well. I went out and did 3 laps and went fastest straight away which was kinda a change for me and it felt good to be up there. Everyone was struggling with front tyre wear and Pirelli offered one extra tyre to everyone, but it was harder and you could only use it for qualifying but not the race? We didn’t bother taking it, as we were doing much less laps than everyone else.

Qualifying that evening was super hot and track temperature was about 55 degrees, CRAZY! Again I only went out for a couple of laps to go for a fast lap but I was really struggling to find a clear lap because so many riders wanted a tow after me so it was a bit frustrating. I only did 6 laps in total and got one clear lap and put it on pole, but then the temperature went sky high and I had to pull in. We had to wait out the rest of the session as the head gasket had blown and although they rest closed the gap from 0.6 to 0.1 secs. woohoo! first time I’ve been on provisional pole this year!
It was pretty hectic that night as the team had to take the engine out and change the head gasket, but the Motorcard and Lorenzini Kawasaki teams helped us with advice and special tools.

The next day we had made a few changes to suspension and we were ready to go for it again. I went out with old tyres to check if the motor was ok and came in after 3 laps. We made some small adjustments to the suspension and I pitted again half way through the session to put new tyres in and go out and try to put a fast lap in. I think I had fallen back to 4th by this time but I was only 0.3 off first and I knew I could go faster. Traffic was real bad and I came in near the end and was told I had mayb 2 flying laps left, so on the out lap there were 4 riders sitting looking behind waiting for a tow. I couldn’t waste any time so I had to go for it. Only one of them latched onto me and he managed 2nd but I took pole in the last 20secs of qualifying! Haha. I couldn’t believe it, the times were so close at the front. The top 8 were within 0.4 which was incredible to know that I was the fastest. The team were delighted as was I and it was a real confidence boost for me going into the race.

Jonathan Rea came by our awning and wished me all the best which was really cool. (Thanks Johnny, you had an awesome weekend!)
6 o’clock came in fast and I was all geared up for the race. Gino came onto the grid with me and gave me a few tips for turn 1 which I used and ended up first into it lol (thank you Gino)
I got a super start and lead until turn 2 where I was passed by Florian Marino up the hill on the Honda who lies 2nd in the championship. The bike hadn’t the same top end as it had, so maybe the overheating had taken its toll? By the end of lap one I dropped back to third but was getting held up by the front guys in the corners and also my brakes were fading pretty rapidly which wasn’t good. I was having to run into corners real tight to the apex so I passed the two front guys easy enough and felt I could start to pull away but as my brakes got worse and worse I was running a bit wide and not being able to get on the power early enough so the Yamaha and Honda passed me down the straight and up the hill which was frustrating. So I was in third and was pushing for 2nd. This soon ended when I was going through the uphill chicane at turn twelve when the rear tyre stepped out and I highsided going into the corner. When I got myself together I hadn’t a clue what had happened. It’s something that’s never happened me and it’s strange to high side going into the corner. I was very aggressive on the change of direction and must have closed the throttle causing the rear to drag a little when it was light. That’s the only reason I can see how it slid as I wasn’t on the gas at all. Anyway, I just have to learn from it and look forward to the next race.

My team tried without success to get me out at a Silverstone trackday, which was disappointing as I’ve never been there. The French Yamaha MRS team got on track to learn it, which is going to leave me with no home advantage, but I’ll just go and do my best and hopefully enjoy some home support. British Supersport rider Luke Mossey is wildcarding, so he’ll definitely be the man to beat around Silverstone. I remember watching him win in the British Stock 600 class last year and he was always very fast, but it will be good to have such a fast local guy to learn from.
I’ll finish off this piece by thanking everyone who continues to help me achieve my dreams and a special thanks to Simon from The ‘Margal’ Group who have stepped in to help the team with expenses for the Silverstone round.

It’s been a while since I did any writing other than in my exams!
It was a fairly tough six weeks or so between Monza and Misano with my GCSE’s
as I had missed quite a few days away racing just before the exams, catching up and getting revision done was difficult. I managed to get through them ok and I was permitted to do the last one in a school in Germany just before the Misano round.

With the exams taking up so much time I didn’t get a lot of training done, but I managed to get out on my bicycle on a few days for some road miles. The local cycle club ran a 10 mile time trial race which the boss of ‘Lakeland bikes’ loaned me a proper carbon time trial bike for. It was way better than my own bike and I was excited about getting a go on it. A few of the top local boys were there and they set me off 1st on the road. I was sure some one would catch me up and pass me but I was surprised no one did. I was chuffed to get third and I think the club members were even more shocked than me, ha!

It was a nice way to prepare for leaving before Misano, but I was to miss my sister’s big night at the Miss Northern Ireland finals. She had won the Miss North West 200 heat which was pretty cool seeing our family was always into bikes.
I had to fly out on the 20th June and Julianne was on stage the following night. I spent that day at Nurburgring at a track day with my German mechanic Andy, and my family kept me informed with txts from the event. I was delighted for her to finish 3rd, but she really should have won. Where were the judges’ eyes?? LOL.

We travelled through Switzerland but the Gotthard tunnel was closed so we had to go over the pass. First time I was on roads with snow at the sides in summer!!
It was hot at Misano and in the first session I thought there was something wrong with the tyres as the track was so slippery. The thing was sliding everywhere, especially on a new piece of tarmac, but I just had to keep her steady, learn the track and get used to the conditions. I did ok in 7th but everyone went much faster in first qualifying. We heard that there might be rain the next day so I used my second rear to try and get a good time. I think I was 12th. We were searching for a good set up but really didn’t get that feeling I needed, so I dropped a place in Q2 to 13th.
The race was not so bad as I got a good start going down the inside into turn one and passing quite a few riders. I managed to slot into 8th place and spent the race defending it. I hadn’t the pace of the front boys so just rode as fast as the grip allowed me to get 8th. I was fairly pleased with that as it was my first time there and was told it was a difficult place to get right.
After the race my bike was one of a number checked by the technical officials. They took out the injectors and measured the radiator but all was ok.
We watched the races on Sunday and were meant to go to Imola for a one day test, but the organisers cancelled it for the Stock 600 riders. This was a real pain as it was going to be my only chance to learn it before the race there.

The following are the releases that were sent out just after Qualifying and then the race. Josh is working on a piece from his perspective which should be up shortly.

Northern Ireland teenage motorcycle ace Josh Elliott has taken a sensational first pole position at Brno, Czech Republic in the World Superbike European Stock 600 class aboard his Direct CCTV Racedays Kawasaki ZX6R. The opportunity to test for the first time prior to a meeting has seen the Ballinamallard sixteen year old dominate every session, even after a blown head gasket called an end to the first qualifying session after just a few laps. The team worked late into the night with assistance from the factory Kawasaki teams to repair his engine and he repaid them by securing pole in a heart stopping last few seconds of final qualifying. Speaking after his maiden pole in the class Josh commented, “I’m very happy with the weekend so far. The bike has been working well here and it has allowed me ride it the way I know I can. It will be a very difficult race, but I hope I can be calm and just go out and enjoy it. ”
Team owner Gerry Bryce had this to say, “So far we have enjoyed a perfect weekend. Josh has now shown he has the ability to run at the front in this class, and we know he has the fitness and pace to win here at Brno.’’

No joy for Josh in Brno!
Josh Elliott escaped with bruises after a crash in the European Superstock 600 race today in Brno, Czech Republic. Up to his crash the Northern Ireland youngster had a stunning weekend, being fastest in every session starting from pole and recording the 2nd fastest lap in the race. Holding third place on the 2nd last lap, Elliott was thrown from his machine but was fortunate to escape with bruising. He had been dicing with the top two championship contenders, Frenchmen Jeremy Guarnoni and Florian Marino for the first time this season in very hot conditions during the late evening race. Despite not finishing off the weekend with a possible podium the team owner Gerry Bryce was upbeat about his young rider, “Josh had a great race. His crash was unfortunate but the track conditions were very tricky and caught a lot of riders out. To be running at the front in such a competitive championship is a great achievement in his first season. We’re all very proud of him.”
After collecting his thoughts the County Fermanagh sixteen year old had these words, “The weekend was amazing for me to be fastest in every session up to the race. I had every confidence I could do well in the race, and managed to lead it for 3 laps. I began to suffer brake fade from lap four meaning I couldn’t get my corner entry right. Near the end while changing from left to right the bike’s rear spun out without warning and threw me off. I wasn’t on the power at the time, so am a bit puzzled about it. I am disappointed not to get a podium, but look forward to the next round at Silverstone where I hope I can continue my learning against the top riders and reward the team’s hard work for me.”
Elliott is next in action at the British World Superbike round at Silverstone in three weeks at the end of July.

Earlier in the week Josh Elliott (Direct CCTV Racedays Racedays) took in a trackday at Brno as preparation for this weekends European Superstock 600 event. The trackday gave Josh and the Team time to find a good setting with the still relatively new machine.

The extra tracktime paid immediate dividends in the opening practice session where Josh scored an early advantage with the fastest lap of the day lapping at 2:07.537 hopefully Josh can continue that pace during qualifying and the race in what is shaping up to be an excellent weekend for the teenager from Ireland.

Northern Irish Motorcycle racer Josh Elliott celebrated the end of his GCSE exams in style at the San Marino round of the World Superbike championship at Misano in Italy on Saturday.

Having been granted an exam transfer to a school in Germany to allow him sit his last exam on the 23rd June, the young Fermangh lad left the exam hall at Windsor School, Reindahlen and travelled directly the 800 miles by road to Misano.

Having never seen the track before and on only his second outing on a Kawasaki, Elliott found the new venue a major challenge with a poor surface affecting grip in the early stages of practice. However, he worked hard in first practice to finish an impressive 7th whilst learning the track. The times dropped by four seconds in first qualifying and as set up issues started to raise their head, he dropped to 12th, despite gambling on using the new tyre as rain was a possibility for the following day’s session. Suffering slow steering and poor rear grip, changes were made for final qualifying, but despite improving a little he dropped to 13th on the grid as conditions remained dry and very hot.

Further set up changes were made prior to the race to try and give the youngster better feel from the tyres. The race started at 6pm local time with the temperature at 31 degrees and Elliott made a super start taking a number of places into turn one. He fought to hold onto faster riders for a few laps but still didn’t have the grip to stay with the leading group. He settled into 8th place which was challenged on a few occasions but battled on, dropping his times by almost a second to secure 8th at the flag.

Delighted with his finish, he commented after a very hot race, “That was really tough! Misano is a difficult place to go fast on straight away. I learnt it OK, but had lack of grip all weekend so confidance on how hard to push was low. I was dissappointed with my qualifying, but to grab 8th in the race was good for me on the new Kawasaki as I am learning more about it every lap. Everyone in front of me has been here before, so I am happy to be the first rookie. It has been good to focus on the racing again after six weeks doing exams. I am looking forward to a track day event at Brno in the Czech Republic next week before the next round there the following weekend. Thanks to the World Supersport Kawasaki team who helped with advice, my team, sponsors and messages of support from back home.”

Well, I’m back from Monza six days and have got two GCSE exams over me so far. I love exams—— NOT!
Anyway, the story of Monza started for me on Tuesday 4th May when we left home via Dublin- Holyhead and Dover- Calais in dad’s Skoda Octavia Estate with a friend’s trailer. We picked up the Kawasaki race bike prepared by Nick Morgan of MSS Colchester Kawasaki. Wow! what a birthday present that was!
Nick is a really funny guy and fair play to him; he built the bike in mega quick time.
We made it to Monza on Thursday evening at about 6pm in lashing rain with the traffic jams the worst I’ve ever seen. The whole Milan/ Monza place is just a big car park and covered in graffiti. What a dump!
The ‘Gate Gestapo’ wouldn’t allow us take the trailer into the paddock as our pass was back in Germany in the camper, so we had to push the trailer all the way into the paddock to where the team were set up.
Anyway, Gerry ‘the boss’ and mechanic Andy started into fitting on the bodywork, overflow bottle etc to get the bike prepared for the next day’s practice.
I have to admit being very excited and nervous heading out for the first time on the new bike at such a fast strange track. Dad and I had gone round on the scooter on Thursday night and he said it scarred the crap outa him it looked so fast. I had learnt Monza on the Xbox, so I sort of knew where the track went. The Kwacker felt real good and I could feel the difference in speed straight away. I was told to keep her below 12500 revs for the first 4 laps, but when I pulled out and passed a Yamaha on the start finish straight on lap 3, Gerry wouldn’t believe me I that wasn’t revving her flat out! LOL. (Sorry Boss, something made my hand turn the gas on a bit more!)
I pitted for the boys to check the tyre pressures which had crept up, but we left the suspension alone the way it had come from MSS. I was shocked when I learnt I was 5th fastest at the end of the session.
I knew the times were quite a way off from where they were the previous weekend at the Italian CIV races, and was wondering why many of the guys that had been there weren’t going faster, so I wasn’t as excited as my team.
First Qualifying soon identified some handling problems as the times were a few seconds faster and I ended up 16th. I didn’t have enough spare wheels for the new bike so had to run the whole session on the worn ones from free practice. A lot of the others popped in a new rear to get a fast time.
We were lucky the next day as it had rained over night, but the track had dried fairly well before 2nd Qualifying. We made some suspension changes bit by bit and as I got quicker I needed more support on the rear. Near the end of the session we got close to a good setting and I managed to get 10th, but my tyre was gone by then.
I was only 0.3 secs off 6th place, so was very happy to record my best qualifying position to date and on the new bike. Kawasaki technical directors Pere Riba and Fabian Raoulo were really helpful and were over with us several times with set up data from the Kawasaki WSS teams. They even loaned us a wheel from Fujiwara’s bike, which was real cool of them.

We sat down and talked about the session and the team agreed to make some more small changes to the bike to help me in a few areas. I was fired up for the race as the weather had stayed dry for us. Gino Rea came out to the grid to support me which was great and we had a good laugh on the grid. He is a good friend and has helped me a lot even though he has a tough challenge himself with being in a new team in the WSS class. I have to say he has done a class job and is getting better all the time.
The bike felt real good on the warm up lap as I felt the changes were going to work for me. All I needed was to get off the line and survive the dreaded first chicane. I wasn’t so sure about the new bike and probably didn’t give it enough gas off the line. I got away ok, but Karlsen got a better start from behind and came past me as I was trying to find a gap. He clipped by brake lever and snapped it off, but I was unaware until I went to brake for turn one! I went to grab the brake thinking it was there and basically thought OH S**T! How am I going to get out of this one? Lol. It’s truly a racers worst nightmare when they go for the brakes and nothings there, so I immediately veered off to the left to find a hole to try and get down the slip road. I was lucky to get through without hitting anyone, and when I realised the lever was gone, I knew my race was over and just rode round to the pits.
As we didn’t have time to get a spares pack sorted for the new bike the boys couldn’t get me out again as in hindsight I’d have got 10th as there were only nine finishers!
I was a bit gutted, but at least I didn’t wreck the bike or myself and on cooling down I know it was just a racing incident and wasn’t done on purpose.
I spent my 16th birthday on Sunday watching the races as we wondered if I was going to make it home that night by plane with the volcanic ash disruption. Eugene was a class act again racking up another win on the trot after Assen. Very impressive, and well done to Gino for a brilliant ride too.
As most of the airports were closed in Northern Italy we didn’t take the chance of me being stuck there, so I went home in the car with dad. When we eventually got out of the mad traffic around Milan we headed for Switzerland and got some sleep in the Skoda motel! I slept on as dad drove into France and direct to Calais. We got the next boat and as I had to get back for my first GCSE on Wednesday, headed direct to Holyhead arriving at 5am. We got the 0820 boat on Tuesday morning, so managed to make it home late that afternoon.
We had brought the new bike home with us and left the bike up to the NW200 last weekend to Nick Morgan. Nick is going to finish off some work on it such as the pit lane limiter and midrange mapping etc. I can’t wait to get out on it again, but probably won’t be until after my exams at Misano in late June.
I want to say a massive thank you to Gerry Bryce for getting me the Kawasaki, Nick Morgan for building it in such a short time, my dad for missing all that sleep getting me and the bike to Monza and back and everyone who supports us in this tough challenge.
I’d like to say a special thanks to everyone involved in the Young Riders Fund who have generously donated and sent me some funds to help with the race expenses. Cheers everyone!
Josh

Northern Ireland’s birthday boy Josh Elliott travelled the 1,250 miles by road to Monza, Italy this weekend. His team boss Gerry Bryce presented him with a brand new Kawasaki ZX600R for this round of the European Superstock 600 championship after he has struggled so badly with lack of speed in the first Three rounds with his usual Honda mount.

The bike was kindly built and prepared in very short time by Nick Morgan of MSS Colchester Kawasaki and collected as Elliott travelled through England en-route to Italy last Wednesday. His challenge was to adapt to a bike he had never sat on and a track he had never seen before!

The weekend started really well for the young Irish lad who was tuning 16 on Sunday, as he amazed everyone with 5th fastest time in first free practice. As the times tumbled in first qualifying the base suspension settings needed fine tuning and without enough spare wheels for the new machine Elliott dropped to 16th with the used tyres from free practice as other teams put in fresh rubber.
With well received help and advice from the world Kawasaki team technical directors, set up changes improved the handling and Elliott bettered his times by 1.6 seconds and moved up to 10th on the grid, his best qualifying position to date.

With small changes to fine tune the handling Josh was looking forward to a good race at this famous and extremely fast track. He wasn’t to even get past turn one before he was out of contention however, as another rider made an aggressive move across him banging into his bike and breaking off his front brake lever. Without brakes Elliott made sterling work to weave his way through the pack to avoid a serious incident on the entry to the first chicane. Realising his race was over he toured back to the pits.

“I am delighted that I got on so well with the Kawasaki. It felt so good straight away and it was nice to be able to sit with most of the Yamahas down Monza’s really long straights. We didn’t even have to make many suspension changes and by 2nd qualifying I was close to the pace of the top guys. Obviously it is very disappointing to be knocked out of the race just after the start, but that is racing I guess! I am very hopeful for the rest of the season now and look forward to learning more about the Kawasaki. I want to thank Gerry Bryce the Racedays team owner for changing machines mid-season for me, Nick Morgan for preparing it so quickly, the help from Pere Riba, Fabien Raulo and the world Kawasaki team with settings and all my family and sponsors for making it possible.”

Young Elliott has to switch his attention now to his School books for the next six weeks as he starts his GCSE exams immediately he returns home.

Team owner Gerry Bryce, “Following the struggle of the first three races with an underpowered motor it’s a great relief to now have a competitive bike. Josh was one of only a few riders to set a faster time in the unfavourable conditions of second qualifying, and this on the 12th lap. There’s no doubt that if he hadn’t been taken out at the start he would have finished right at the front. He did a great job this weekend. Many thanks to MSS Colchester Kawasaki for building us such a competitive bike at such short notice and to Kawasaki Racing for their interest and support.”

Well, it has been a couple of days since Assen and I have had some time to reflect on the weekend.
To go from 6th at Valencia to 14th certainly wasn’t my plan. I was really hoping before the weekend to either replicate how I did at Valencia or better, but nothing ever goes to plan. Eugene Laverty took me round the track again like he did at Valencia. That was great as the track had a few changes and Eugene knows the rest of it very well.

The weekend started ok, as the bike felt fairly good in free practice but lacking on top end speed quite a bit which wasn’t so great.

All weekend we had a constant battle with trying to get the bike set-up and up to speed and the whole team worked really hard, even dynoing the bike and changing an engine just before my race. I managed to do two sighting laps in the five minute window to check out the changes to the front to stop the chattering. Andy, my mechanic made some small changes on the grid as she was ‘backing in‘ to the corners on my second sighting lap.

I had qualified in 13th but was moved into 12th as a guy in front of me was put to the back of the grid after checks following Qualifying. That’s two bikes in two meetings found to be outside the rules!!
I got a good start and I think I was 8th going into the first corner but then was literally swamped in turn 4 and lost 3 places. I was then passed down the back straight by two riders. This set me back to 13th and stayed there until I got to the front straight where I was passed again putting me into 14th. This is really where I stayed all race trying my best to hang onto a group from 6th to 14th. The front felt a lot better but the rear was not hooking up so well. Every time it came to a straight they would gap me and I had to try and pull it back in on the brakes.

I hung in as best I could and by the end of the race I was riding almost a second faster than the guys in 6th and 7th but by this stage it was too late and I couldn’t do anything.

With the next round being Monza (where I have never been before), we will definitely have to get more speed from the bike and I will need to do a bit more thinking and preparation before it. Thanks to the team, my sponsors and everyone who sent messages of support, as it is much appreciated.

Josh

We headed for Valencia in the middle of my Easter school holidays and I hoped it would be better than Portimao where I got 12th but had a load of troubles all weekend. My hopes faded a little when we realised there was still no engine map for our new engine, so I had to use the #2 motor again.

It was good to meet up with Eugene Laverty as he had promised to take me round for a lap on the Thursday to get some reference points on the circuit. We went round on his scooter for a couple of laps but we were chased off it by one of the officials!! Still, I found it very useful as it got the circuit into my head for the first free practice the next morning.

I like the atmosphere in the WSB paddock. To me it seems much more relaxed than the Moto GP one I experienced in 2008 at the ‘Rookies‘ It’s fairly cool too that we also have Gino Rea and Leon Haslam dropping into the awning for a chat during the weekend. Parkalgar let us use outside their garage to signal from and do the practice and qualifying which is really handy.

The boys tried to map the new motor on a dyno at the circuit, but they were told the ‘lamda‘ was not working so we couldn’t. They worked hard to decide on the set up for free practice to try and give me a better start than the one we had at Portugal. I ended up 12th in the first run but we were a fair way off in set-up.

I was well over a second off my best lap when we tested there last March with Jeremy McWilliams.
This didn’t exactly please me, so we tried to make changes for first Qualifying. This didn’t really go to plan as I only improved by 0.3 of a second and ended up 13th. I didn’t use a new tyre as I knew I hadn’t found the right set up so wanted to save it for Qualifying 2.

Overnight we changed the rear spring to try and get the bike to finish the turns and I hoped for a better run with the track being warmer. The bike allowed me to get better drive off the turns but I still needed a bit more support on the rear. I got some more pre load added by Andy the mechanic and put in the new rear tyre early in the session and went to get a decent lap. I did my best time on the third lap and then the best I could do was a constant 0.3 off that no matter what I tried. I think the rear was too high and too hard and it over worked the tyre. (I didn’t know this at the time!). I improved by 1.5 secs and managed to get into the 1.40’s, but was a bit disappointed to be outside the top 10 in 11th.

We basically spent the whole afternoon debating on what we were going to change on the bike. Thankfully Simon Crafar came to Valencia and gave us some thoughtful advice on what we should do and he even went to the bother of ringing up last year’s British supersport champ Steve Plater. We stuck to Simon’s advice and made some changes to the rear of the bike to try and stop the pumping from the rear.

The race soon came and I was satisfied with the changes the team had made and was feeling excited about the race. After taking me round the track on the Thursday evening Eugene joined me on the grid where we talked over some good first lap strategies which were helpful and boosted my confidence for the race.

At the lights my clutch grabbed a bit and I had to hold the brake on to stop the bike moving over my grid line. I got away ok and was boxed in a little at turn one. For turn two I ran down the inside hoping to gain a few positions. Two front riders got tangled up, held others up and that let me grab a few places on the inside. I came out of turn two in 7th place. I held that for 4 laps but the rear grip dropped off around lap 5, so I had to change my style to defend my position. I had to brake really late and stop the bike in some corners before picking it up and driving as I had no side grip. Fannelli near collected me at the turn after the back straight. This went on the whole race after that, but I couldn’t stop others driving past on the straight. I did retake some places on the brakes and after a few guys crashed in front of me I settled into a late race scrap with Fanelli and D’Annunzio. I managed to hold them off to near the last few laps, and decided to try to pass them both on the last lap. Unfortunately SBK have introduced a new timing system (without telling anyone!) which caused mix ups for loads of riders with their signal boards, and I was given 2 laps to go on the board when actually it was the last lap and was really surprised when I came back round to see the chequered flag. I knew where I was going to pass the guys in front and was leaving to the last lap because they would have just passed me down the straight if I had passed too early.

so I ended up 7th, not bad but was feeling a bit disappointed knowing I could have had a chance of getting 5th. We later found out that the guy that finished 2nd was disqualified for having a quick shifter, so that meant I moved up a position into 6th. This was great for me and the team because I felt we worked hard throughout the weekend and we deserved something out of it all.
I’m now preparing for Assen which I’ve been to before and am looking forward to getting back onto the bike and being able to reward my team and sponsors with another good result. I hope this big pile of Volcanic Ash blows away before next Thursday or we’ll be on a long haul across land and sea to make Assen!

Fifteen year old rookie Josh Elliott had a strong race at the Spanish round of the European Superstock 600 in Valencia despite a challenging start to the weekend. After getting a great start from 11th position on the grid, Elliott was battling for 6th place within the first lap.

Josh, “I didn’t have the best start to the weekend, right from the off we struggled to get the right setting for this circuit. We continued to work hard and made some progress to qualify on the third row in 11th position. The race itself went really well as I got a good start and found myself in seventh position after a few others slipped off at turn two. Towards the end of the race I found myself in a three-way battle for 4th and I was unlucky to miss out at the end of the race. Nevertheless 6th position is a big step from where we finished at Portimao and two solid results is just the start I needed to my season.”

Gerry Bryce Team Manager “Josh has stepped up to the challenge of the Superstock 600 championship very well. He rode with the commitment required in this very tough class and was in a Three way battle for Fourth throughout the race. We are still lacking top speed due to an electronic glitch with our new motor, and we are having to use last years engine. Hopefully we will have this resolved for Assen. All things considered 6th place is an exceptional result and shows how talented Josh is.”

Eugene Laverty helped out his fellow Ulsterman by giving the rookie a couple of tips.

Eugene “Josh is a very talented rider, he has a lot of ability on the bike. For such a young rider from Northern Ireland to get the chance to race for a good privateer team (Racedays Honda) in such competitive class is really great to see. I’m going to try and support Josh in any way I can to see that he goes far in the sport“.

Next round for the RaceDays team and Josh will be Assen on the 23rd April.