Ellison and the Kendal Massive set for Knockhill

James Ellison will be hoping this weekend’s Knockhill BSB presents a few less incidents than Sunday’s WSB races at Donington.

His tough outing at Donington on the Airwaves Yamaha  as one of the wild card WSB entries saw him recover from a DNF in the first race to finish eighth in race two.

In the first outing from 14th on the grid, Ellison made his way up to 11th by the end of the opening lap, had passed former MotoGP rider Carlos Checa for 10th but a lap later lost the rear going into McLeans.

After incident-packed  early laps Ellison had worked his way up to sixth but  was passed by team-mate Leon Camier and Honda rider Ryuichi kiyonari in the closing stages and finished eighth.

He said, “The first race start was pretty messy with a lot of fairing bashing so it was quite difficult to get a clean run to the first corner. We had a new engine for the race, and once I’d figured out how to ride it, I got my head down to chip away at the guys in front.

“I was looking forward to a good race, passing Hopkins and Checa cleanly. I’m so frustrated not to have finished. I lost the rear of the Airwaves Yamaha going into McLeans, but luckily I was ok.

“Before the second race we made some adjustments to the engine to prevent another similar crash, but again, it took some time to get used to.

“I knew I had to be more aggressive off the start and tried to pass as many people as possible into the first corner. Once I got behind Tom Sykes, the plan was to stay behind and challenge later on.

“But my tyres started to wear and I couldn’t do anything about it. This weekend has been good preparation for the rest of the BSB season, which is our main priority.

“I know I need to improve my riding to preserve the tyres. I’m looking forward to getting to Knockhill and making use of everything we’ve learnt.”

Ellison is expecting big support at the weekend and said: “Knockhill is like another home round for me.

“My mum’s from nearby, so I should have a lot of family supporting me. My friends, ‘The Kendal Massive’, will also be there. They travel around with the BSB circus, cheering me on.

“Knockhill’s been good to me in the past and it’s a circuit I’ve always enjoyed. I think the Airwaves Yamaha should work well there, so I’m looking forward to it.

“This past weekend at the World Superbike round we’ve learnt a lot, putting us in a good position for the rest of the remainder of the BSB season.

“I’ve still got some work to do to improve tyre wear over a race distance, but we’re heading in the right direction for some strong results this weekend.”

Ahead of track action, Ellison and Camier will be making an appearance at the ‘Superbikes in the Square’ event on Wednesday, July 1 in Glasgow’s George Square.