Ellison fast despite fighting for fitness at Oulton

James Ellison has topped the time sheets in the opening MCE British Superbike session at Oulton Park, despite still recovering from theinjuries he sustained in qualifying for the opening round of the series at Brands Hatch two weeks ago.
 
He finished the session only 0.005 ahead of Brands double winner Shane Byrne, with both riders gaining a jump start over their opponents after testing last week at the Cheshire track.
 
However, Ellison is struggling to find race fitness, after scans showed more damage than initially thought to the joint and ligaments of his pelvis and hip.
 
“I was sore for both races at Brands, but once the adrenalin kicked in I was relatively OK. After a few days rest things stiffened up and I was insome real pain for our test last week. I could only complete one session, before we decided it was best to go for some scans and I’m now working with the BSB Medical Team to try and ease some of the pain.”
 
“I was able to do a quick lap today, but I’m still struggling to do lots of laps, and I’m having to use my upper body to handle the bike instead of my hips and legs. The injury is definitely a setback, but with the way the Showdown works if we can get two points scoring finishes then we’ll still be up there.”
 
Byrne’s Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki teammate Stuart Easton was third, 0.3 off the leading pair, ahead of a provisional second row of Ryuichi Kiyonari, Chris Walker and Josh Brookes.