The JG Speedfit Kawasaki team return to Oulton Park this weekend for the final round before the MCE British Superbike Championship Showdown begins. With Leon Haslam already confirmed in the top six, James Ellison and Peter Hickman are aiming for maximum points across the three races and join him as ‘Title Fighters’ – the first time three riders from a single team would make it into the Showdown.  

It was a successful visit for the team when the Championship first visited the Cheshire circuit in May, with Leon claiming pole position before taking his first MCE British Superbike win since 2008 in the opening race. Team mate James joined Leon on the podium in the opening race, before narrowly missing out on a repeat in the second outing.

The 2.6 mile Oulton Park circuit is a firm favourite for fans and riders alike and thousands of fans are again expected over the weekend. With its blend of fast sweeping corners, stop/start chicanes and elevation changes it truly has a mix of everything to make it a true ‘riders’ circuit.

Oulton Park also marks the team’s Principle Sponsor McAMS home round, and James recently spent a day with them to find out what they do and how they help motorcyclists: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CETq0H4ztg

Currently holding sixth place in the standings, James Ellison is looking to cement his position in the Showdown 

“Oulton Park is my local track and a circuit I really love riding so I always look forward to racing there. We had a very positive test at Cadwell at the start of the week and we’re narrowing down on the problem that’s been affecting us and I think we’re now in a positon to get back to where we belong this weekend.

Obviously the Showdown is our goal, but I’m not approaching this weekend any different. Our aim is to be on the podium every round and I feel we’ve now made that step so we can be challenging for the rostrum again and start getting our Championship challenge back on track!”

Although secure in the Showdown, Leon Haslam is looking for maximum podium credits ahead of the Showdown 

“I’m really looking forward to this weekend. We had a great first visit to Oulton in May, taking the pole position as well as my first win of the season so fingers crossed we can repeat that this weekend…although with better weather!

We might have secured our position in the Showdown, but we aren’t going to relax - our aim for this weekend is to win and close the point’s gap to Shakey ahead of the Showdown. We took a big step forward with the Kawasaki at Cadwell and I’m confident that we can continue that form this weekend – Oulton is a fantastic circuit and one I really enjoy.”

Just 12 points adrift of the Showdown, Peter Hickman knows what he has to do this weekend 

“This is the big one! We’re only 12 points off from the Showdown and although that doesn’t sound like much it’s not easy when everyone this year is so fast. We know it’s more than possible though and we’ll be aiming for three great results this weekend.

Oulton is a brilliant circuit and in May we were really fast in the dry – unfortunately in the wet conditions I just couldn’t get the same feeling, but we’ve made some big steps since then and I’m really looking forward to getting out there and seeing if we can get three JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s in the Showdown!”

GBmoto Racing Team Principal, Mark Smith-Halvorsen concluded, 

“Oulton Park is a very important round for the JG Speedfit Kawasaki team, as we try as hard as possible to give all three of our riders the chance to fight for the title. We had a good weekend at Cadwell Park last time out, and we plan to keep that momentum going for the rest of the season, by persistently working to improve our ZX10R package. Leon is secure in the Showdown, so this weekend his aim is score as many podium credits as possible. James, currently holds the final Showdown position, whilst Peter is only 12 points adrift. To get them both securely into the top six, means they have to beat a lot of excellent riders on great bikes over three races this weekend. However, our focus is to become the first team in BSB history to get three riders into the Showdown, and we’ll be trying our best to help them achieve that!”