Ellison targets improved qualifying at Mallory BSB

James Ellison knows he needs to qualifying stronger at the Mallory Park BSB round this weekend if he wants to stand any chance of adding to the race win he took at Donington on the Airwaves Yamaha.

Mallory is a notoriously difficult track to overtake on and making a good start is absolutely vital to avoid the bottlenecks caused by the succession of chicanes that now proliferate the course.

Ellison consolidated second place in the point standings with hard-fought fifth and third places last time out at Knockhill, another of the tighter, demanding BSB tracks but is looking to improve on those results at Mallory.

He said: “I enjoy riding at Mallory Park, but more than anything, I’m just looking forward to getting back on the bike. I think it’s going to be similar to Knockhill in that it’ll be close all weekend. “There are a lot of guys out there with a similar level of talent, all riding at the limit.

“I’ll need to make sure I qualify a lot better than last time. Starting sixth (on the grid) at a short circuit like Knockhill or Mallory Park makes the races so much more difficult.

“We won’t be able to use the full potential of the Airwaves Yamaha YZF-R1. Because of the nature of the circuit, and of course the chicane, we won’t be able to go through all of the gears fully.

“But it’ll be the same for everyone out there.

“The team has put together a fantastic package at every circuit we’ve been to so far, so I’m confident we can do well this weekend.”