OMG Racing, Elliott toast superb BSB win on weekend of firsts

A year after rolling onto the Bennetts British Superbike Championship grid for the very first time, OMG Racing marked its one-year anniversary in memorable style as Josh Elliiott notched up a remarkable maiden victory at Silverstone.

Formed ahead of the 2018 BSB season, OMG Racing ran a single Suzuki GSX-R1000 last season for Gino Rea but comes into 2019 with an ambitious new two-man squad as Elliot steps up from its Superstock 1000 arm and is joined by race-winning rider Luke Mossey.

Establishing a new team landmark early on in the weekend by getting both bikes into Q3 with Elliott and Mossey qualifying in fourth and fifth respectively, the former subsequently took the fight to the leaders in race one as the only rider to contend with the pace of the two McAMS Yamahas.

Though he’d fade in the latter stages for what was still set to become a first podium milestone in third, Elliott and OMG Racing were given more reason to cheer on the final lap when a fall for Jason O’Halloran lifted him to second position.

Remarkably, however, O’Halloran’s fall would later be judged as the fault of first-across-the-line Tarran Mackenzie, with the Scot’s subsequent three-second penalty promoting Elliott into first. An unexpected first win for a team that came into the weekend with a previous best result of seventh place, the success also marks a first triumph for 21-year-old Elliott.

Fortuitous though the circumstances may have been, Elliott proved his performance was no fluke in race two as he diced for victory, eventually finishing second behind Mackenzie after a race-long tussle to bag a sizeable haul of points.

“A fantastic weekend,” the 2015 National Superstock 1000 champion said. “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!”

Mossey consolidated the team’s joy with a run to fourth and sixth on his Suzuki debut, the two-time race winner delighted with his and OMG’s success.

“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.”

Sharing the top spot in the overall standings with Mackenzie after round one, incredibly Elliott’s single-round points haul of 45 points matches the team’s entire 2018 points’ total. It is a success team principal Paul Curran couldn’t have anticipated twelve months earlier.

“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”