The GBmoto prepared JG Speedfit Kawasaki team took an emotional debut victory at Donington Park today with James Ellison, before an unfortunate technical problem ahead of race two forced him to start from the back of the grid. James Westmoreland suffered with mechanical problems throughout race day, a legacy of a practice crash, seeing him retire from both races.

Despite the cold weather, dry track time on the opening day of practice enabled both James Ellison and James ‘Westy’ Westmoreland to dial in their Kawasaki ZX-10R machines to the 2.4 mile Donington Park circuit. With conditions improving for qualifying, Ellison narrowly missed out on taking pole by just 0.029s. Despite suffering from some niggling problems during qualifying, a result of crashing in free practice three, Westy was still able to secure 12th place on the grid for the opening race.

With warm sunshine gracing the circuit on bank holiday Monday, Ellison took an impressive start from second place on the grid to muscle his way into the lead as the pack entered the first corner. He was run wide and pushed back to second shortly before the safety car was deployed, however as the race resumed, Ellison immediately retook the lead where he controlled from the front to cross the line 0.131s ahead of Byrne. The win marked GBmoto and JG Speedfit’s first ever MCE British Superbike Championship victory, as well as Kawasaki’s first BSB win at the circuit since 1999. Unfortunately for Westy, he continued to battle with machine problems from the free practice crash and was forced to retire on lap 18.

By virtue of their lap times in the opening race, both Ellison and Westy again lined up in second and 12th respectively for the second outing. However as Ellison prepared to head out to the grid, a simple fault with the battery saw the team forced to replace it, meaning James was unable to take his position and had to start from the back of the grid. A gutsy ride through the large field saw him still able to secure 12th at the checkered flag but further mechanical gremlins for Westy meant he again had to retire from the race.  

James Ellison said,

“It’s certainly been a mix of highs and lows today, but to be walking away having taken GBmoto and JG Speedfit’s first ever BSB win is amazing. The team really deserve it too, so a big thanks to them for their support – especially Mark Smith-Halvorsen who stuck by me last year through the accident.

It’s so frustrating to have missed the opportunity to challenge for a second win in race two though, the bike starts on a slave battery but every time we removed it the bike would die. It meant we had to replace it, but that requires us removing the fairings, seat and tank from the machine and despite the whole garage helping out, we just couldn’t do it time. Starting from the back wasn’t ideal, particularly with the size of the grid, and fighting through just takes time. We still scored points though so we can’t be too disappointed.”

A disappointed James Westmoreland said,

“Unfortunately we were just unable to fix the problem with the bike in between races today and it is frustrating to be leaving the opening round with no points. The guys in the garage have been incredible though, even swapping engines between race one and two but no matter what we tried, we just couldn’t solve the problem so it’s pretty confusing. 

It’s not been an ideal start but the team are already working hard on finding and solving the problems we’ve suffered and I’m confident that we’ll be back at Brands ready to challenge at the front.”

GBmoto Racing Team Principal Mark Smith-Halvorsen said,

“Firstly, it was absolutely fantastic for JG Speedfit, GBmoto and everyone involved in the team to take our debut victory in the first race of the year. It’s certainly felt like a long time coming at times, but now we’ve got it under our belts I’m certain we’ll be enjoying that feeling many more times this year! Unfortunately race two was a complete contrast and we went from the highs of winning the race to being prevented from challenging for a second win by a simple failure of the battery on James Ellison’s bike. The team showed their worth though by getting it swapped in time for him to still be able to rejoin at the back of the grid. 

On the other side of the garage, we just couldn’t seem to cure a problem on James Westmoreland’s bike following his crash in free practice three. I’m bitterly disappointed for him as unfortunately, we as a team were unable to provide him with the tools for the job and we’re 100% focused on ensuring he has them for Brands Hatch.”  

MCE British Superbike Calendar 2015 


4/5/6 April Donington Park GP (Leicestershire) 
17/18/19 April Brands Hatch Indy (Kent) 
2/3/4 May Oulton Park International (Cheshire)
19/20/21 June                Snetterton 300 (Norfolk)
3/4/5 July                      Knockhill (Fife)
17/18/19 July                 Brands Hatch GP (Kent)
31 July - 1/2 August       Thruxton (Hampshire)
21/22/23 August            Cadwell Park (Lincolnshire)
4/5/6 September            Oulton Park International (Cheshire)
18/19/20 September      TT Circuit Assen (The Netherlands)
2/3/4 October                Silverstone GP (Northamptonshire)
16/17/18 October           Brands Hatch GP (Kent)

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