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.
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.
By virtue of their lap times in the opening race, both Ellison and team mate Westmorland 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 chequered flag but further mechanical gremlins for Westmorland 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.”
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!”,
Making short of his hand injury sustained during the final testing by taking the second podium of the day in Superbike closing out the top spot for Kawasaki was Shayne Byrne. Added to a strong performance in the series opener, Shakey now leads the Championship.
PBM Kawasaki team mate, Stuart Easton, had the best start to a season in the Superbike class for some time with a great race two podium. A more or less permanent fixture in the PBM line up over the years, the Hawick rider is superfast when fit and Donington certainly bodes well.
In the Superstock 1000 class which has recently been dominated by Ninja machinery, Morello Racing Kawasaki rider Josh Elliott battled hard at the front of the pack to finish in a fine second place. And in Junior Superstock, Ninja ZX-6R mounted Mason Law, rode a smart race to take a comfortable win. Not just winning the race, but topping every practice session and qualifying on pole. A great start for the newly formed Russo Racing Kawasaki team.
Commenting, Ross Burridge hoped this was just the start of great things to come:
“Sure it is only the first event in a long season but for Kawasaki to win both Superbike races and place well in the other classes – including a great win for Mason Law – you have to say that the foundations are once more in place for a fabulous season. “