Following yesterday’s stunning return to the podium and securing his Showdown position, Maxxis-sponsored JG Speedfit Kawasaki Showdown star James Ellison suffered more with the injury today, but was still able to fight through the pain to secure two fifth places. Team mate James Westmoreland was unable to show his true potential as he was forced off track in the opening race, but still fought through to secure tenth, before a lack of grip in the final race saw him finish fourteenth.
By virtue of his lap time yesterday, Ellison started the second race of the weekend from fifth position whilst Westy was back in 21st having not set a flying lap in the first race. Struggling more today with his injury, James Ellison was unable to replicate his storming start from the opening race but still crossed the line at the end of the first lap in seventh with Westy moving up to 18th. Keeping his cool throughout the race, Ellison was able to eventually take the flag in a strong fifth place. Westy, despite being forced to run across Hizzy’s chicane on lap 11, fought back through the pack to take tenth place at the line.
The third and final race saw Ellison start from eighth and Westy 17th. With both enjoying good starts to run sixth and 15th respectively, they had both moved up one further place by the time the pace car was deployed on lap six. As the pace car pitted, Ellison slipped back to sixth but defying the pain from his injury, he put in a number of fast laps towards the end to retake fifth. Unfortunately for Westy, he was unable to find the same grip he had from the first race, eventually crossing the line in 14th.
With Oulton Park marking the end of the ‘main’ season, James Ellison has secured his position in the MCE British Superbike Championship Showdown and has become one of the six Title Fighters. With all six having their points levelled at 500 and their podium credits added, Ellison sits third in the Championship, just 31 points from the lead as the Championship moves into the three round Showdown.
MCE British Superbike Championship Title Fighter James Ellison said “To be leaving Oulton Park as a Title Fighter is a job well done. It was our goal this weekend and thankfully we did it in the first race yesterday as I struggled a little with the injury today. Josh and Shakey are on fire at the moment so it’s going to be a tough final three rounds but I believe we can do it and if it wasn’t for the broken ribs at Snetterton and then the wrist at Thruxton we would have been closer. Despite that, we’re sat third in the Championship and when I’m fully fit the JG Speedfit Kawasaki will be back challenging for victory.
The bike is mega at the moment and capable of winning every race, I’m just not able to ride it to the maximum just yet, but with two more weeks until Assen I’ll be in a much better shape. With the riders who’ve made it and Yamaha, Kawasaki, BMW and Honda all in the Showdown, it’s going to be epic. My job now is to focus on getting in the best position I can for Assen and claw back those points.”
Struggling throughout the weekend James Westmoreland added, “Honestly, this weekend has had its difficulties. We made Friday very hard for ourselves and it put us on the back foot ever since. We made some changes ahead of qualifying and I instantly felt comfier, but it was like FP1 for us. The bike was feeling great for the opening race but unfortunately through no fault of anyone, I was forced to lay the bike down and our race was done.
That put us further back for the race two but to come from 21st on the grid, again get pushed out meaning I had to run over the chicane and lose a handful of positions, we were still able to fight back up to tenth. The final race was frustrating, I wasn’t able to make the initial progress I did in the first outing but for some reason I didn’t have the same grip. It would have been nice to walk away from today with two top ten positions but I still set my fastest ever lap round Oulton and with the team bringing some updates for Assen I’m confident we’ll be back to where we belong.”
JG Speedfit Kawasaki Team Principal Mark Smith-Halvorsen added, “It’s been a really positive weekend for both sides on the garage. Westy struggled a little at Cadwell but we’ve definitely seen him back to some form this weekend and although the results might not show it his lap times and race pace were competitive.
Our main goal this weekend however was getting James Ellison and JG Speedfit Kawasaki into the Showdown. We achieved that far earlier than we expected and even with the amount of discomfort and his limitations on the bike, he was still able to get an incredible podium yesterday and two very strong results today. We’re all so pleased for him, and the fightback to the top of the standings begins now. We’ll be bringing some improvements to the Kawasaki ZX-10R for Assen and with James being stronger we’ll definitely be closer to the front and show everyone we’re capable of winning the 2015 MCE British Superbike Championship.”
