SOLID POINTS FOR ELLISON AND MARTIN AT BRANDS
 In
totally contrasting conditions to the snow that caused the
postponement of round one of the Bennetts British Superbike
Championship five weeks ago, the rescheduled races took place
at Brands Hatch today in glorious conditions and it saw Hydrex
Bike Animal Honda riders James Ellison and Guy Martin score
more solid points.
Languishing well down the grid after problems in the initial
qualifying session back in April, Ellison rocketed through
to run with the leading bunch in the 20-lap opening race in
front of another bumper Brands Hatch crowd.
After a good performance, Ellison ended up sixth which he
followed up in the second leg, which was stopped early due
to oil being deposited on the track, with an eighth place
finish to end up in fifth place in the Championship standings.
Meanwhile Martin overcame a crash in practice on his Honda
Fireblade to finish thirteenth in the opening race which he
followed up with a battling twelfth place finish in race two
to move him to fourteenth place in the Championship but more
importantly, to set him up for next week's big North West
200 road race which takes place in Northern Ireland.
James Ellison: "I'm a bit disappointed
really, we made a few changes with the bike and the pace was
a bit better but the problem we had didn't really disappear
so we haven't really gained too much from it. The pace car
came out for a long time in the second race and the tyres
went cold and I couldn't get any heat back in them and then
I got snagged up in a couple of places also. We'll get some
testing done and I like Donington Park so hopefully we can
get sorted and get back on the podium again where we should
be."
Guy Martin: "This weekend was really
a case of getting the job done and damage limitation and we
just wanted to collect a few points and keep myself and the
bike in one piece ready for the North West next week and that's
exactly what we've done. I'm happy with the bike now and I
just need to take it from here really. It's onwards and upwards
and God loves a trier."
Shaun Muir (Team Owner): "I'm happy
with the results overall. Guy is happy with his settings now
and he knows where he needs to be. I would have been happier
if the pace car hadn't come out in the second race as James
was just starting to catch up and I feel he could have got
a fifth place, but he's fifth overall in the Championship
and we've got a bit of breathing space now to do a bit of
testing and overall we're happy."
The Championship action moves on to Donington Park in two
weeks time where both riders will be looking to increase their
points tally and Ellison in particular will be looking to
maintain his standing of second placed Honda in the Championship
behind Shane Byrne (Ducati), Cal Crutchlow (Honda), Leon Camier
(Ducati) and Michael Rutter (Ducati).
Martin, meanwhile, starts as one of the favourites for next
week's Kennedy International North West 200 which gets underway
with Tuesday evening practice followed by a second practice
and qualifying on Thursday with the races taking place on
Saturday.
Superbike Race One Result
1, Shane Byrne (Ducati) 29m24.345s, 2, Tom Sykes (Suzuki)
+1.855s, 3, Cal Crutchlow (Honda) +3.111s, 4, Leon Haslam
(Honda) +3.887s, 5, Leon Camier (Ducati) +4.996s, 6, James
Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) +15.815s, 7, Stuart Easton
(Kawasaki) +16.645s, 8, Billy McConnell (Kawasaki) +26.446s,
9, Simon Andrews (Yamaha) +30.384s, 10, Tristan Palmer (Honda)
+33.728s. 13, Guy Martin (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) +42.465s.
Superbike Race Two Result
1, Cal Crutchlow (Honda) 30m31.299s, 2, Shane Byrne (Ducati)
+0.110s, 3, Leon Camier (Ducati) +0.748s, 4, Michael Laverty
(Suzuki) +2.221s, 5, Michael Rutter (Ducati) +2.906s, 6, Leon
Haslam (Honda) +3.097s, 7, Stuart Easton (Kawasaki) +3.121s,
8, James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) +4.147s, 9, Billy
McConnell (Kawasaki) +1lap, 10, Scott Smart (Kawasaki) +1lap.
12, Guy Martin (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) +1lap.
2008 Bennetts British Superbike Championship Standings
after Round 1 (after three rounds)
1, Shane Byrne (Ducati) 140pts
2, Cal Crutchlow (Honda) 96pts
3, Leon Camier (Ducati) 83pts
4, Michael Rutter (Ducati) 66pts
5, James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) 64pts
6, Leon Haslam (Honda) 56pts
7, Stuart Easton (Kawasaki) 52pts
=, Michael Laverty (Suzuki) 52pts
9, Tom Sykes (Suzuki) 49pts
10, Tristan Palmer (Honda) 29pts
14, Guy Martin (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) 19pts
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