IDM Oschersleben
Fermanagh teenager Josh Elliott completed a double points scoring performance today at Oschersleben in Germany aboard the Direct cctv Racedays Honda CBR600RR. Having secured 19th on the grid in qualifying yesterday, (11 places better than his first ever IDM 600 race at Lausitzring three weeks ago), the youngster took a superb 11th place in race one. The team had worked hard all weekend to get the right set up and wily race craft saw Elliott convert a good start into valuable points, taking three riders in the last lap with daring outbraking moves.
With one excellent result under his belt the fifteen year old was looking forward to another good race and was hoping he would make the right tyre choice. Elliott got well away off the line but got badly boxed in at turn one, loosing places. He emerged in 21st place on lap one and was battling in a large group when he collided with another rider and badly bent his clutch lever. Despite this he made good progress up to 14th place at the front of that group. Unfortunately the tyre choice seemed to be the wrong one and he struggled for grip from mid race. He dropped to 16th but held on defiantly until the last lap where he again made a daring outbraking manoeuvre to retake 15th and 1 championship point.
His team principal Gerry Bryce was delighted with his performance and commented after the race, "We are very pleased with Josh's progress. He is exceeding our targets for him at this stage and we fully expect him to be finishing in the top ten in the near future. If the team can secure extra funding for development and an electronics package, there is no reason why Josh cannot be on the podium in his first season."
Rider, "I think I picked the wrong tyre today as i didn't have as good a grip as yesterday," stated Josh. "I nearly crashed when another rider braked harder than usual in front of me and I bent my clutch lever on the rear of his bike. It was really tough near the end as I was hanging on. I made a big effort on the last lap to get a point. I have to thank Dunlop for their support this weekend, Alpinestars for supplying me a superb set of leathers and the rest of my sponsors for helping me make this possible."
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