Victor Cox finished 6th and Filip Backlund was 14th as the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship moved to the Brands Hatch GP circuit at the weekend.

The result means both riders remain 4th and 5th in the championship with Cox closing the gap slightly on his team-mate.

Free practice again took the form of two groups, odd and even numbers, and was held over the shorter Indy circuit. It was Cox who posted the best time of the two riders to finish third best in his group and fourth fastest overall as Backlund finished fifth quickest in his group and 11th overall.

First qualifying saw the riders back into one group as the session reverted to the longer and more popular GP circuit to be used for the race. Victor and Filip were second quickest through the first and finish line speed traps respectively, however with track time limited by the damper conditions, Cox would finish well down in 40th as Backlund completed the session in 15th position.

Second qualifying was held in better conditions as the team worked hard on bike set-up for both riders. Again it was Cox who fared the better of the two to go ninth fastest as Filip again finished 15th quickest but only 0.29s slower than Victor.

From the third row of the grid, Victor got a great start in the race and was up to fourth place on the second lap and for the next five laps he was in 5th place just over half a second off a rostrum position.

The top six riders were well clear by the ninth lap with Cox just over half a second adrift of fifth place man Jimmy Storrar, but with two laps to go Victor was right on Storrar's rear wheel with Tristan Palmer also under pressure from the hard charging Trowbridge man.


However Cox had a bit of drama to contend with, as he caught his gear change lever on the ground causing him to hit neutral and nearly resulting in a crash. Thankfully he stayed on board to still finish a strong sixth and regain some momentum in his championship challenge.

Filip meanwhile was down in 21st at the end of the opening lap and in the middle of a large group of riders, by half race distance he had fought his way up to 17th and with five laps to go he was into the points, eventually claiming 14th place and two championship points.

The result keeps both riders well placed in the championship standings, but with series leader Adam Jenkinson crashing out at Paddock Hill on the second lap, Backlund in particular will rue a missed opportunity to close the gap at the top of the table, as Cox climbed purposely back up the points.


Pic - Victor Cox on the ILR Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R at Brands Hatch. © Jon Jessop Photography


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