Rounds 3 & 4 - Thruxton, Hants
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
=, 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
|
