Aboard Shaun Muir's Honda Fireblade, Ellison was hampered by a row three start following qualifying and after battling through the field he ended up in seventh position at the end of the opening 21-lap race.
However just prior to race two, a torrential downpour soaked the Norfolk venue and following a lengthy delay the race was re-run over a shortened distance of 15 laps but early in the race the 27 year old from Kendal in Cumbria suffered a problem with the rear tyre which he had to persevere with to end up in tenth at the chequered flag.
It was a disastrous weekend for Guy Martin who retired in both races after a disappointing qualifying session saw him languishing down in twentieth position.
The 26 year old from Kirmington in Lincolnshire suffered with a mysterious electrical problem in both races and as a result failed to add to his points tally for the season.
The net result is that Ellison lies in fifth in the championship and Martin in sixteenth going into the next round at Mallory Park in two weeks time.
James Ellison:
"I was hoping to make up for seventh in the first race with a good result in the second but it didn't quite go to plan. Qualifying has really messed the whole weekend up for me. The bike's got the pace and I've got the pace and I should have been running with the top three guys. I was just too far back on the grid and gave myself a lot of hard work with a row three start. In the second race the bike felt pretty good on the warm up lap, but then in the race the tyre was just spinning up along the back straight and I couldn't get any drive. I'm just disappointed as I wanted to get a result for the team, Shaun and Hydrex Bike Animal Honda but we'll try again at Mallory Park."
Guy Martin:
"We had an electrical problem on the bike. It started off OK and then just got worse and worse so I had to pull in both races. We've changed everything on the bike but haven't cured the problem so we're going testing at Cadwell Park on Wednesday and I'm looking forward to that."
Shaun Muir (Team Owner):
"The weather ruined it for us this weekend. James had a problem with the tyre when it looked as though he might have been on for a good result. We're not sure what's going on with Guy's bike at present but we'll have to find out as soon as we can. We're going to Cadwell Park on Wednesday to do some much needed testing and hopefully both our riders can be challenging for podium positions at the next round as that's where we need to be now."
Superbike Race One Result 1, Leon Camier (Ducati) 23m13.162s, 2, Shane Byrne (Ducati) +0.092s, 3, Tom Sykes (Suzuki) +0.597s, 4, Cal Crutchlow (Honda) +1.026s, 5, Leon Haslam (Honda) +2.311s, 6, Michael Laverty (Suzuki) +2.872s, 7, James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) +6.050s, 8, Karl Harris (Yamaha) +6.437s, 9, Michael Rutter (Ducati) +16.842s, 10, Simon Andrews (Yamaha) +19.540s.
Superbike Race Two Result 1, Shane Byrne (Ducati) 18m41.592s, 2, Leon Camier (Ducati) +2.433s, 3, Cal Crutchlow (Honda) +6.012s, 4, Michael Rutter (Ducati) +11.875s, 5, Leon Haslam (Honda) +14.527s, 6, Michael Laverty (Suzuki) +19.957s, 7, Tom Sykes (Suzuki) +21.123s, 8, Simon Andrews (Yamaha) +21.162s, 9, Tristan Palmer (Honda) +25.262s, 10, James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) +27.488s.
2008 Bennetts British Superbike Championship Standings after Round 5 1, Shane Byrne (Ducati) 235pts 2, Leon Camier (Ducati) 152pts 3, Cal Crutchlow (Honda) 151pts 4, Leon Haslam (Honda) 118pts 5, James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) 103pts 6, Michael Rutter (Ducati) 102pts 7, Tom Sykes (Suzuki) 100pts 8, Michael Laverty (Suzuki) 79pts 9, Stuart Easton (Kawasaki) 62pts 10, Simon Andrews (Yamaha) 51pts 16, Guy Martin (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) 19pts
Round 2 - 18th/20th April - Thruxton, Hants Round 3 - 3rd/5th May - Oulton Park, Cheshire Round 1 - 10th/11th May - Brands Hatch GP, Kent Round 4 - 24th/26th May - Donington Park, Leics Round 5 - 13th/15th June - Snetterton, Norfolk Round 6 - 27th/29th June - Mallory Park Round 7 - 18th/20th July - Oulton Park, Cheshire Round 8 - 8th/10th August - Knockhill, Fife Round 9 - 23rd/25th August - Cadwell Park, Lincs Round 10 - 12th/14th September - Croft, North Yorkshire Round 11 - 26th/28th September, Silverstone, Northants Round 12 - 10th/12th October - Brands Hatch Indy, Kent
|