Ellison to undergo operation for broken femur

James Ellison will undergo surgery today (Monday) to repair a broken femur, following the horror crash on the opening lap of race two at Brands Hatch that almost took championship leader Shane Byrne down too, as Ellison’s GBmoto Kawasaki careened across the track.

Lloyds British GBmoto Kawasaki Team Principal Mark Smith-Halvorsen today said, “After reviewing James’ X-rays, and on the advice of specialists, he is currently undergoing surgery this morning at Kings College Hospital in London. From there we as a team will be doing everything we can to ensure a swift and complete recovery for James so we can see him back out where he belongs; on his #77 Lloyds British GBmoto Kawasaki. “

“Currently, we have no confirmation on how long he will be out of action for and we’ll not be pushing for him to return until he is fully fit and ready to do so. I would like to personally send my best wishes to James, as do the entire team – our well wishes also go to Barry Burrell who had a big crash yesterday too.”

Byrne, who got hit by the flying Kawasaki ZX-10R, added: “The second race got off to the worst start when James crashed in front of me and the bike caught my brake lever and trapped my hand between the handlebar although, luckily, there was no major damage to my fingers – although I thought at the time I had broken all my fingers.”

For full coverage of the weekend’s MCE British Superbike action see Wednesday 24th July’s Motorcycle News