BSB: Ellison: 'I've not given up yet!'

James Ellison gave the McAMS Yamaha team’s chances of securing a top six Showdown spot a glimmer of hope with his first victory of the season in a close-fought second race at Cadwell Park.

The Cumbrian has endured a rollercoaster season so far, which has seemed to have more downs than ups with a number of technical issues and crashes leaving the former title fighter with just two podiums to his name ahead of this round.

And while it was a steady start to the weekend, Ellison showed pace from the off until a slow puncture in Q2 left him 15^th on the grid. With passing notoriously difficult at Cadwell, tenth place was all he could achieve in race one but his quickest lap put him on the front row for a fighting chance in the second race.

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Fighting with the front pack throughout, Ellison was in contention from the early stages and would eventually get the better of the Smiths BMWs of Lee Jackson and Peter Hickman for his first win of the year.

While Ellison’s chances of securing a spot in the top six to fight for the title over the final three rounds were looking slim, having scored more points than any other rider this weekend is sure to bolster his chances.

“Coming here I knew we needed to score on average six points more per race than O’Halloran and Brookes if we were going to have any chance of being in the Showdown,” Ellison explained to MCN trying to do the maths in his head. “The 25 points here will make a massive difference, but if it’s enough I don’t know. I’ve certainly not given up yet.” 

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