BSB: Ellison victory charge halted by tyre wear

James Ellison has said he believes a potential faulty Pirelli tyre cost him the chance of fighting for victory in Sunday’s second race after his tyre dropped off after just two or three laps.

The Cumbrian leapt in to the lead in the opening stages of the second outing and remained within the leading trio for the first half of the race. A close move around the outside at the Melbourne loop saw him lead the race for a second time but it wouldn’t last for long as he started to fall rapidly through the chasing pack to eventually finish seventh.

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“The start of the race was awesome but after five or six laps the tyre started to drop off on both sides, it was horrendous,” he told MCN after the race. “Our times were really quick straight away but when the tyre started to drop I just couldn’t turn in to the corners. I’ve never had the left hand side of the tyre wear here before. The tyre should not go off after five laps – especially when the set-up is exactly the same!”

Pirelli have since taken the tyre for post-race analysis in order to determine whether or not it was in fact faulty. 

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