MOTORCYCLING Victor Cox had quite a battle in the National Superstock 1000 Championship at Silverstone last weekend, writes Graham Ravensdale.

Not only did the Bradford racer have the class field to contend with, but he also was battling a heavy cold which made it difficult to breathe inside his helmet.

Under the circumstances it is no surprise that he struggled to produce a quick lap throughout qualifying on the J&L Racing Yamaha R1, ending up on the fourth row in 13th place.

With his customary bad start he lost many places before the first corner, eventually finishing the lap in 17th position.

His old rival, Connor Cummings, was another rider with problems and they spent many laps dicing for position but the R1, with its lack of top speed on the long straights around Silverstone, was losing around four bike lengths which Cox had to make up with much bravado and determination on the corners.

He eventually dispensed with Cummings and their dice pulled him up to a 10th-place points finish to save something from a rather uncomfortable weekend.

The final round in a couple of weeks' time is at Oulton Park. Having raced there recently, the team have valuable data with which to launch their assault but nevertheless the main criteria in the days ahead is to extract more top end power.