BSB: Breakthrough sees Ellison close in on showdown spot

James Ellison has said he believes he can still fight Shane Byrne and Leon Haslam for the 2016 MCE British Superbike title after a welcome return to form at Oulton Park this weekend.

The JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider has been held back by a number of mechanical issues, including a constant throttle connection issue, for a large part of the season but returned to the top in style this afternoon as he fought for the win in today’s opening race.

Only losing time to team-mate Leon Haslam in the closing stages after his bike cut out in fourth gear, Ellison took a strong second place to take a step towards securing his place in the top six title fight. 

“I’m much happier today!” he told MCN after the race. “We’ve not been where I’ve felt both myself and the bike should be for a lot of this year. I’ve been talking about the throttle connection for quite a long time now and we’ve managed to find a breakthrough, which is something we’ve been working on for a while to hone in on the issue and what we can do to fix it. 

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“The team have worked flat out to figure out where the issue is and they’ve given me something this weekend that I can really get my teeth in to. I can now put the bike where I want to put it whereas I’ve felt like a passenger the last few rounds; it’s been frustrating. 

“I don’t want to get ahead of myself as we’ve got two more races tomorrow to confirm our spot in the showdown but for the last few rounds I’ve said if we can fix the issue we’d still have a chance of fighting for the championship if we’re in the showdown. We’ve made a big step towards both of those things this weekend. We’ve moved fourth in the championship and found a huge improvement with the throttle.”

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