JG Speedfit Kawasaki and James Ellison dominated qualifying to secure pole position for tomorrow’s opening MCE British Superbike Championship race at Brands Hatch. His lap of 45.310s was under the existing lap record and one of the fastest ever two-wheel laps around the short Indy circuit.  

It was a strong start to the weekend for the GBmoto prepared JG Speedfit Kawasaki team as James Ellison backed up his impressive pace at Donington by topping the timesheets on the opening day of practice. It was a different story on the other side of the garage as team mate James ‘Westy’ Westmoreland struggled to find a comfortable setting on his Kawasaki ZX-10R, finding himself in 20th, despite being just 0.8s from Ellison.

Further cementing his place at the top of the timesheets, Ellison dominated final Free Practice session Saturday morning. With confidence high for Datatag Extreme Qualifying, Ellison eased through the opening two sessions to head into the final session as the fastest rider. With just eight minutes left in the final session he quickly took control, setting three laps under the existing lap record to secure his first pole position of the year – and only his and the team’s second ever. Continuing to improve throughout each session, Westy qualified in 18th although the position was not indicative of his true potential.

It was a special day for James Ellison too, as he enjoyed a demonstration run on the supercharged Kawasaki H2R – the UK debut for the incredible machine.

Speaking after securing pole position James Ellison said,

“I honestly wasn’t expecting to take pole position, but every time I went out on the bike, I just felt really comfortable. We’ve not really found anything big this weekend, we’ve just really gelled with the Kawasaki from testing and we’ve significantly improved the bike from last time we were here. 

We’ve been running really consistent times and we know we can run at least ten laps at this pace. We’ve not really had a chance to do many full race runs but the team have worked fantastically all weekend and I’m confident we’ll be able to challenge for the win tomorrow!”

James Westmoreland is looking to improve further tomorrow,

“Obviously this isn’t where the bike or I should be, James has proven the bike is capable of being incredibly fast and I know I can run with the front guys. I don’t feel 100% comfortable on the bike at the moment and unfortunately the Indy circuit here at Brands exaggerates everything quite a bit, so where you could get away with it at another track we’re struggling a little here. 

The guys in the garage are already planning on some changes and looking at improvements we can try in warm up tomorrow which will hopefully let us challenge further at the front.”

JG Speedfit Kawasaki Team Manager Mike Kane said,

“It’s been a brilliant day for the JG Speedfit Kawasaki team. We’ve shown our pace in every session and qualifying saw James do what he does best, taking pole position and doing so by setting three laps under the existing lap record. Hopefully we can continue like this tomorrow and secure another win, or two! 

Westy has improved with every session he’s gone out and his qualifying position doesn’t justify his potential. Starting from 18th tomorrow won’t be easy around the Indy circuit but we know he has the talent, so we’ll look to improve his feeling during warm up and I’m confident we’ll see him further up the field in the races.”