It's doubtful there was a more popular winner at Oulton Park at the weekend, as Victor Cox put in a stellar performance to take victory in the third round of the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship and claim his, and ILR Kawasaki's, maiden National Superstock 1000 win.

It was a faultless ride from the Trowbridge man who virtually led the race from start to finish, on a circuit he has performed well at in the past. His team-mate Filip Backlund, paying his first competitive visit to the circuit, also rode a great race to bring the second Ninja ZX-10R home in fourth and put the disappointment of his Thruxton crash in the previous round well and truly behind him.

As in previous rounds free practice and qualifying again saw the riders divided into two groups and for the first time this season Victor and Filip were in different groups. After promising runs in Free Practice both riders were confident going into the first qualifying session. Filip's group was first out on the track and the 23 year old immediately got with the pace, finishing the session in third with a best time of 1:39.98, just 0.17s off the fastest time and good enough for 6th overall. Even better was to come in the next group as Victor went quickest through the second and third sectors to storm to a lap of 1:39.56 and secure overnight pole position.

Second qualifying also took place in good conditions and once more both riders were well to the fore in their respective sessions. Filip again took his session by the scruff of the neck and went quicker still, to finish fastest overall in Group B with a time of 1m:39.03s, the best time of the weekend at that stage and a marker for the second group to aim at.

Only one rider managed this, and Victor was only .05s slower at 1m:39.08s to finish second in his group. All this meant that ILR Kawasaki had two riders occupying the front row of the grid with Filip and Victor in second and third respectively, a great effort by both riders and the team.


As the race got underway in bright sunshine, Victor quickly settled into second at the first corner with Filip also getting a good start to slot into fourth. Cox soon hit the front with Backlund leading a five man Kawasaki chasing pack in fourth. Victor still led at the end of the lap from Joe Burns, Hudson Kennaugh and Filip and it stayed this way on the second lap where Backlund was the first rider to lap in the 1:39's.

On the third lap Filip was getting into the groove and started applying some pressure on Burns in third but he had bit of a moment on the next lap which resulted in him losing touch slightly as he still held on to fourth. By the sixth lap it was still Cox in front as he put in the fastest lap of the race with a 1:39.48, as Backlund determinedly held off a challenge from Josh Day.

At half race distance things began to close up among the top six, but at the front Victor was totally focused and riding a smooth and assured race with 100% confidence in the team's Ninja ZX-10R.

On the tenth lap the first three began to open a slight gap on Backlund who was still having to contend with the presence of Day in fifth, but on the next lap Filip managed to give himself some breathing space as he opened the gap to half a second. Meanwhile at the front Victor was contending with a challenge of his own as Kennaugh closed to within 0.31s, but he too responded to the threat and managed to take a few tenths of a second out of the South African to extend his lead to just over half a second as the riders sped on to their last lap.

Again Kennaugh pressed, but Victor was having none of it and he punched the air in delight as he crossed the line a worthy race winner. Meanwhile Filip, hampered by a bit of oil on his rear tyre from an oil leak in the latter stages of the race, had eased off and settled for fourth.

Cox's superb performance propels him to second in the championship and with Backlund now occupying fifth in the standings, it was a great weekend for ILR Kawasaki.


Photo: © Jon Jessop Photography
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