2008 Bennetts British Superbike Championship
Rounds 11 & 12 - Mallory Park, Leicestershire
28th/29th June 2008
 TOP
FIVE FOR ELLISON AT MALLORY
Hydrex Bike Animal Honda rider James Ellison overcame a disappointing
qualifying position to battle his way from row four of the
grid to a fifth place finish in the opening race of the sixth
round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Mallory
Park today.
After developing the brand new traction control system on
his Honda CBR1000 Fireblade, Ellison resorted to his original
machine prior to the first 30-lap race where steady progress
through the field saw him catch up with the leading bunch
but he couldn't quite close in and had to settle for fifth
position at the flag.
Race two proved a nightmare for all of the teams with a sudden
rain shower before the start making tyre choice a lottery
and Ellison chose an intermediate front and a slick rear on
the drying track. After taking it steady in the opening laps
Ellison improved to 11th place at the chequered flag and was
just pleased to bring the machine home to add to his points
tally.
For team mate Guy Martin it proved to be another character
building weekend, after only being able to manage 26th fastest
in qualifying, meaning a sixth row start. However Shaun Muir's
team made some radical changes to the machine prior to today's
two races and Martin ended up with a pair of reasonable finishes
in 16th and 17th.
However, consolation came the way for Martin when his efforts
were acknowledged with him being the best improver on the
day meaning he won the Airwaves Kick Up A Gear award. In addition,
Ellision now leads this award following on today's results.
Both riders now look forward to the next round of the championship
in three weeks time at Oulton Park where last time Ellison
scored a podium finish for the team.
James Ellison: "The first race was
really good but I would have rather had a good race two. In
the second race I should have been higher up as I made the
right decision on the tyres but I was too far down the grid
so I'm just really frustrated. It took me a while to get some
heat into the tyre and then I kept coming up behind other
riders and kept getting held up. I think testing the traction
control put us in a bad position but it was my decision, so
it's my fault. I'm disappointed for the guys in the team as
well, but I'm hoping to go well at Oulton Park and hopefully
go one better and get a win."
Guy Martin: "The second race was just
a wobble round for everyone and I made the best of a bad job
and got the Airwaves Kick Up A Gear award. But at least I
got two finishes and no breakdowns this weekend so it puts
us in good stead for the Southern 100 race next week."
Shaun Muir (Team Owner): "I was absolutely
delighted with race one, James rode really hard from that
grid position and he proved that with a bit more testing he
could be up there. I was disappointed with race two as I felt
that James didn't get up to pace quickly enough as it took
him half race distance to get into his stride."
Superbike Race One Result
1, Shane Byrne (Ducati) 28m33.049s, 2, Leon Haslam (Honda)
+1.024s, 3, Cal Crutchlow (Honda) +1.147s, 4, Tom Sykes (Suzuki)
+1.355s, 5, James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) +11.302s,
6, Billy McConnell (Kawasaki) +17.149s, 7, Simon Andrews (Yamaha)
+18.252s, 8, Tristan Palmer (Honda) +19.761s, 9, Atsushi Watanabe
(Suzuki) +26.422s, 10, John Laverty (Ducati) +27.593s.16,
Guy Martin (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) +1 lap.
Superbike Race Two Result
1, Michael Rutter (Ducati) 30m10.219s, 2, Shane Byrne (Ducati)
+4.405s, 3, Cal Crutchlow (Honda) +4.586s, 4, Tom Sykes (Suzuki)
+13.383s, 5, Karl Harris (Yamaha) +13.589s, 6, Leon Haslam
(Honda) +19.517s, 7, Simon Andrews (Yamaha) +25.928s, 8, Leon
Camier (Ducati) +35.007s, 9, Tristan Palmer (Honda) +44.194s,
10, Scott Smart (Kawasaki) 56.422s, 11, James Ellison (Hydrex
Bike Animal Honda) +56.712s. 17, Guy Martin (Hydrex Bike Animal
Honda) +1 lap.
2008 Bennetts British Superbike Championship Standings
after Round 6
1, Shane Byrne (Ducati) 280pts
2, Cal Crutchlow (Honda) 183pts
3, Leon Camier (Ducati) 160pts
4, Leon Haslam (Honda) 148pts
5, Michael Rutter (Ducati) 127pts
6, Tom Sykes (Suzuki) 126pts
7, James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) 119pts
8, Michael Laverty (Suzuki) 84pts
9, Simon Andrews (Yamaha) 69pts
10, Stuart Easton (Kawasaki) 62pts
17, Guy Martin (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) 19pts
Photograph courtesy of Turn One Photography
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