British Superbikes
SEVENTH HEAVEN FOR ELLISON
Hydrex Bike Animal Honda rider James Ellison overcame problems during qualifying to post an impressive pair of seventh place finishes when round two of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship took place at Thruxton in Hampshire today.
Technical problems had blighted Shaun Muir's team during pre-season testing and also throughout this weekend, but some radical changes by the team overnight saw Ellison and team-mate Guy Martin improve along with the weather conditions on race day.
Ellison battled from his fourth row grid position to claim seventh in the opening twenty lap race and following an accident in race two which saw the race reduced to fifteen laps, he did likewise to open his points campaign for the year.
Martin's fifteenth place in race one saw him score a solitary point but he improved considerably in the second outing to take ninth position to justify the hard work which the team had put in throughout the weekend.
After the opening round at Brands Hatch was cancelled due to snow, it means that Ellison and Martin lie in fifth and thirteenth respectively in the championship going into the next round at Oulton Park in two weeks time.
James Ellison: "I'm happy enough. If we'd had a couple more laps in the last race I could have got up a couple more places. We made a lot of big changes between Saturday and Sunday which normally you don't do but we needed to make some time up. I'm pleased for Shaun, Hydrex and Bike Animal and it's good to put a good show on for them. I feeling happy going into the next round."
Guy Martin: "We put some new front forks in last night and the first race was just to get the gist of where we wanted to be. We took a step in the right direction so for the second race we made some more adjustments and it worked again so we made another step in the right direction. We'll just keep plugging away, it's going to come and I'm going to make myself a short circuit rider! The team has worked so hard, especially Warren, Kate, James and Havier so thanks to them."
Shaun Muir (Team Owner): "We've finally given James a bike he can race and not just drag around the circuit. The team has worked so hard for this and we will be challenging for the podium. All I expected was two top tens for James and two top fifteen places for Guy and both have bettered that. Now we can turn up at Oulton Park and be challenging for a podium. We have a test at Castle Combe before then where we'll be doing some more development work. I feel that we've now turned the corner and it's all looking very positive."
Superbike Race One Result
1, Shane Byrne, (Ducati) 25:33.903s, 2, Cal Crutchlow (Honda) +2.306, 3, Michael Rutter (Ducati) +3.573, 4, Leon Haslam (Honda) +10.949, 5, Leon Camier (Ducati) +18.745, 6, Tom Sykes (Suzuki) +19.048, 7, James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) +19.406, 8, Simon Andrews (Yamaha) +22.403, 9, Stuart Easton +22.709 (Kawasaki), 10, Michael Laverty (Suzuki) +23.902, 15, Guy Martin (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) +40.272
Superbike Race Two Result
1, Cal Crutchlow (Honda) 19:05.302, 2, Shane Byrne, (Ducati) +1.807, 3, Michael Rutter (Ducati) +2.136, 4, Leon Camier (Ducati) + 7.942, 5, Michael Laverty (Suzuki) +11.863, 6, Stuart Easton (Kawasaki) +12.461, 7, James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) +13.632, 8, Tom Sykes (Suzuki) +18.759, 9, Guy Martin (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) +23.395, 10, Billy McConnell (Kawasaki) +23.899
2008 Bennetts British Superbike Championship Standings after Round 2
1, Shane Byrne (Ducati) 45 pts
=, Cal Crutchlow (Honda) 45 pts
3, Michael Rutter (Ducati) 32 pt
4, Leon Camier (Ducati) 24 pts
5, Tom Sykes (Suzuki) 18 pts
6, James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) 18 pts
7, Stuart Easton (Kawasaki) 17 pts
=, Michael Laverty (Suzuki) 17 pts
9, Leon Haslam (Honda) 13 pts
10, John Laverty (Ducati) 9 pts
13, Guy Martin (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) 8 pts
Round 2 - 18th/20th April - Thruxton, Hants
Round 3 - 3rd/5th May - Oulton Park, Cheshire
Round 1 - 10th/11th May - Brands Hatch GP, Kent
Round 4 - 24th/26th May - Donington Park, Leics
Round 5 - 13th/15th June - Snetterton, Norfolk
Round 6 - 27th/29th June - Mallory Park
Round 7 - 18th/20th July - Oulton Park, Cheshire
Round 8 - 8th/10th August - Knockhill, Fife
Round 9 - 23rd/25th August - Cadwell Park, Lincs
Round 10 - 12th/14th September - Croft, North Yorkshire
Round 11 - 26th/28th September, Silverstone, Northants
Round 12 - 10th/12th October - Brands Hatch Indy, Kent
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