HYDREX BIKE ANIMAL HONDA
BRITISH SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM
Rounds 9 & 10 - Snetterton, Norfolk
14th/15th June 2008
 WEATHER
WRECKS WEEKEND AT SNETTERTON
Following on his great performance at Donington Park in the
previous round, Hydrex Bike Animal Honda rider James Ellison
saw his hopes of another podium finish disappear as weather
ruined a potentially good weekend in round five of the Bennetts
British Superbike Championship at Snetterton today.
Aboard Shaun Muir's Honda Fireblade, Ellison was hampered
by a row three start following qualifying and after battling
through the field he ended up in seventh position at the end
of the opening 21-lap race.
However just prior to race two, a torrential downpour soaked
the Norfolk venue and following a lengthy delay the race was
re-run over a shortened distance of 15 laps but early in the
race the 27 year old from Kendal in Cumbria suffered a problem
with the rear tyre which he had to persevere with to end up
in tenth at the chequered flag.
It was a disastrous weekend for Guy Martin who retired in
both races after a disappointing qualifying session saw him
languishing down in twentieth position.
The 26 year old from Kirmington in Lincolnshire suffered
with a mysterious electrical problem in both races and as
a result failed to add to his points tally for the season.
The net result is that Ellison lies in fifth in the championship
and Martin in sixteenth going into the next round at Mallory
Park in two weeks time.
James Ellison: "I was hoping to make
up for seventh in the first race with a good result in the
second but it didn't quite go to plan. Qualifying has really
messed the whole weekend up for me. The bike's got the pace
and I've got the pace and I should have been running with
the top three guys. I was just too far back on the grid and
gave myself a lot of hard work with a row three start. In
the second race the bike felt pretty good on the warm up lap,
but then in the race the tyre was just spinning up along the
back straight and I couldn't get any drive. I'm just disappointed
as I wanted to get a result for the team, Shaun and Hydrex
Bike Animal Honda but we'll try again at Mallory Park."
Guy Martin: "We had an electrical problem
on the bike. It started off OK and then just got worse and
worse so I had to pull in both races. We've changed everything
on the bike but haven't cured the problem so we're going testing
at Cadwell Park on Wednesday and I'm looking forward to that."
Shaun Muir (Team Owner): "The weather
ruined it for us this weekend. James had a problem with the
tyre when it looked as though he might have been on for a
good result. We're not sure what's going on with Guy's bike
at present but we'll have to find out as soon as we can. We're
going to Cadwell Park on Wednesday to do some much needed
testing and hopefully both our riders can be challenging for
podium positions at the next round as that's where we need
to be now."
Superbike Race One Result
1, Leon Camier (Ducati) 23m13.162s, 2, Shane Byrne (Ducati)
+0.092s, 3, Tom Sykes (Suzuki) +0.597s, 4, Cal Crutchlow (Honda)
+1.026s, 5, Leon Haslam (Honda) +2.311s, 6, Michael Laverty
(Suzuki) +2.872s, 7, James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda)
+6.050s, 8, Karl Harris (Yamaha) +6.437s, 9, Michael Rutter
(Ducati) +16.842s, 10, Simon Andrews (Yamaha) +19.540s.
Superbike Race Two Result
1, Shane Byrne (Ducati) 18m41.592s, 2, Leon Camier (Ducati)
+2.433s, 3, Cal Crutchlow (Honda) +6.012s, 4, Michael Rutter
(Ducati) +11.875s, 5, Leon Haslam (Honda) +14.527s, 6, Michael
Laverty (Suzuki) +19.957s, 7, Tom Sykes (Suzuki) +21.123s,
8, Simon Andrews (Yamaha) +21.162s, 9, Tristan Palmer (Honda)
+25.262s, 10, James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) +27.488s.
2008 Bennetts British Superbike Championship Standings
after Round 5
1, Shane Byrne (Ducati) 235pts
2, Leon Camier (Ducati) 152pts
3, Cal Crutchlow (Honda) 151pts
4, Leon Haslam (Honda) 118pts
5, James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) 103pts
6, Michael Rutter (Ducati) 102pts
7, Tom Sykes (Suzuki) 100pts
8, Michael Laverty (Suzuki) 79pts
9, Stuart Easton (Kawasaki) 62pts
10, Simon Andrews (Yamaha) 51pts
16, Guy Martin (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) 19pts
Photograph courtesy of Turn One Photography
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