Milwaukee Yamaha’s James Ellison will start from the front row of the grid for tomorrow’s opening MCE British Superbike Championship at Donington Park and the rider has now put himself in the best place to secure his position in the Showdown.

The team were greeted with better conditions at the circuit today and with the dry track time Ellison continued pushing ahead and was able to qualify third to complete the opening row of the grid. The Kendal rider needs just seven points to secure his position in the Showdown tomorrow and is determined to achieve his goal in the opening race.

“We needed to be on the front row here this weekend and now we need to get a good start in the race so we can try and get to the front at the beginning because there are so many riders who are also fighting for the Showdown position,” said Ellison.

“We only need seven points to claim the place in the Showdown but we knew that there would be some more riders in the mix this weekend; certainly tomorrow I expect eight to ten riders to be up there having a massive fight at the front. It was vital to have the qualifying session we did because the battle for those race wins tomorrow are sure to go down to the wire.”