JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s James Ellison was in contention for his first MCE British Superbike race win of the season in both races at the Brands Hatch Indy circuit, but he cruelly experienced an electrical fault in race two while he was in the lead, and in race one he was pipped to the victory by his own team-mate, Leon Haslam by 0.057s.
Ellison started on the front row for both events and the Cumbrian was ‘spewing’ that he missed out on the win, but he did get some solid points for his team to keep his title hopes alive.
In race two he was powering away at the front only for his ZX-10R to stop abruptly at the side of the track, dashing any expectations of being victorious at the Kent track.
“I am absolutely spewing to finish second and I put a lot of effort into that. I just managed to get a bit of a gap and going around the start and finish straight with one lap to go I had a bit of a tank slapper and just rolled out as little as possible and then back on it again,” said Ellison at the circuit.
“I then looked over at the team and nodded my head and still full throttle and that little roll at the end was enough [for second] and I am a disappointed. But there are points on the board and points win championships.”
Ellison was a double race winner back at the track last year, and felt ‘gutted’ losing out on the victory, but at least the racer knows what he is capable of with the package that he has and is
already preparing to regroup for the next round at Knockhill.
He added: “I honestly don’t know what to say. That first race was good and I felt strong so to just miss out like that is gutting – but it’s great to see the team up here claiming our first one-two and it shows the strength of the package we have. In the second race, I was feeling good again and although it was closer at the front I thought we could win but an electrical fault robbed us of the chance.
“It’s a long championship though and we’ve now got a setting with the bike that I feel real comfortable with. We know what we’re capable of so we’ll regroup and come out ready to challenge for further podiums at Knockhill”
