SUZUKI LEADS BRITISH SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP

Team Suzuki Press Office – April 22.

Josh Elliott #1 – BSB – 1-2
Luke Mossey #12 – BSB – 4-6
Billy McConnell #3 – SST – 18-7-10

OMG Racing’s Josh Elliott took an incredible victory aboard the team’s Suzuki GSX-R1000 at the opening round of the 2019 Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Silverstone in the UK at the weekend, and currently leads the championship.

This marked the privately-run team’s first ever BSB win, on a day that also saw Elliott’s team-mate Luke Mossey score impressive fourth and sixth positions in Sunday’s races, that puts him fourth in the standings.

Elliott and Mossey lined up for the opening 30-lap race at the Northamptonshire circuit in fourth and fifth positions respectively, with Elliott crossing the line in second place. But a subsequent three-second time penalty given to the race winner, saw Elliott awarded victory.

Race two saw more drama, as a mechanical failure from another rider saw Mossey covered in oil, but he battled-on with poor visibility to finish with another strong points ride in sixth.

Josh Elliott: 

“A fantastic weekend! The OMG team have worked so hard and they gave me a great bike for the races. To come away leading the 2019 Bennetts British Superbike Championship is amazing. We’ll continue to work hard and focus on Oulton Park now. Thanks to everyone for your messages and support!”

Luke Mossey:

“Well what can I say, round one definitely didn’t disappoint! All in all, it was a great weekend, but I feel like we were robbed today in the races by other people’s issues, saying that we come away fourth in the championship! We’ve shown our pace all weekend during the practice sessions and I think we’ve got a really good package. I’m looking forward to Oulton and properly getting our season underway.”

Pirelli National Superstock 1000:

A difficult weekend in the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship saw Billy McConnell able to showcase the pace he has on the OMG Suzuki, but unable to apply it during races due to some technical issues but powered through to bring home valuable championship points.

Billy McConnell: 

“It wasn’t the perfect scenario to be in this weekend but Josh walking away with a win, a second place and leading the championship, is something the whole team can be very proud of. I feel very privileged to be a part of it and seeing results like that for both Josh and Luke, I wished that I could have been a part of it.

“Unfortunately, we had a slight rear brake issue, nothing that me or the team could have done, but we move forward to Thursday’s test. You know, we win together, we lose together, and we managed to come away with some points considering we could have pulled in with that issue. We stuck it out though and managed to come back with probably the maximum we could hope for with what we had. I feel like we have the package to keep progressing and now I’ll look forward to a circuit where I’ve won before. To see the team’s spirit and passion this weekend has been a real driving point for me, and I’ll look to use that as motivation to prove to myself and the team that we deserve these results”

Team Principal Paul Curran was disappointed with the issues preventing Billy McConnell from reaching the podium but was quick to praise the hard work of the entire OMG team on a day for the team’s history books.

Paul Curran – Team Principal: 

“Bit of an upside-down weekend for us, a shame for the Superstock side of the garage which have had to deal with, which meant Billy couldn’t reach the results which his pace shows he could have done. Our early practice pace showed a top-three position, but onwards and upwards for Oulton.

“On the Superbike side of things, what can I say? Amazing really that from founding the team last year to developing the bike like we have and the hard work over the winter, we leave Silverstone leading the championship with two podiums. There’s shock, but also not so much shock. P1 and P4 in the championship at the moment is pretty damn amazing, and both riders rode incredibly well across the two races.

“Big thanks to the team, all the guys who work in the garage and behind the scenes and a massive shout out to our Team Owner Alan Gardner who made all this possible. Onwards and upwards and now we look towards the test at Oulton Park”

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