It was a disaster of a race day at the JG Speedfit Thruxton round for MCE British Superbike contender James Ellison as he crashed out on oil in race one, breaking his left wrist in the process. It was a vastly different story for team mate James Westmoreland however as he enjoyed his maiden BSB podium, ensuring a JG Speedfit Kawasaki rostrum at their sponsored event.  

Despite using the opening practice sessions to work through a number of new settings on their JG Speedfit Kawasaki ZX-10R machines, James Westmoreland and James Ellison were still able to finish sixth and seventh on combined times. With spirits high entering qualifying, Ellison was able to secure a strong fifth place for the opening race whilst Westy was baulked on his flying laps, finishing a disappointing 14th.

Proving he has made a big step forward however, Westy signaled his intent in morning warm up by topping the timesheets with an impressive 1:15.046s lap. With both riders eager to make a podium visit at the JG Speedfit sponsored round, things looked positive at the start of the opening race with Ellison running in the leading pack and Westy making quick progress through the field. Disaster struck on lap six however as a blown engine from Richard Cooper directly in front of Ellison saw oil dumped on the track and James launched from his machine at high speed. The crash resulted in Ellison breaking his left wrist.

Starting from fourteenth on the grid for the shortened 15 lap restart, Westy held the position on the opening laps, conserving his tyres. As the race entered its final stages, Westy carved though the nine rider battle for the podium, moving up to third on lap ten. Placing a series of fast laps in, he was able to pull away from the pursuing pack to cross the line in third place to take an emotional debut MCE British Superbike Championship podium.

With Ellison missing the second race with injury, Westy started from twelfth and again enjoyed a good start, conserving his tyres. Beginning to close up on the chasing pack it looked set to be another strong finish for Westy but an unfortunate, and rare, technical fault saw him forced to retire on lap nine.  

A dejected James Ellison said

“The race itself was going well, we were running in the front group and I could see some of the guys in front were beginning to lose grip whereas I was feeling particularly good still. Going through Church on lap six I was sitting behind Cooper when his engine went, throwing oil all over my bike and visor - to the point where I couldn’t see. I moved off line and was about to lift my visor so I could see but the bike came round on me as the tyres were covered in oil and I high-sided! 

It was possibly the fastest crash I’ve ever had, and the result is a broken left wrist. It’s gutting and we seem to never have any luck, just like Snetterton it was a crash through no fault of our own which has given us a big setback. It’s a clean break so I’m going to see the specialist tomorrow to decide if we plate it or not. It’s going to be a race against time to get back for Cadwell, but I’ve done it before and we’re still third in the championship so I’m pretty confident that whether it’s Cadwell or Oulton we’ll still make the Showdown. I’m just as gutted for the whole team, they work so hard and didn’t deserve this either – but a massive congratulations to Westy, that was a brilliant ride and I’m chuffed to see him take his first podium.”  

Westy crosses the line.

Delighted to make his debut MCE British Superbike Championship podium, James Westmoreland enthused,

“Obviously the mechanical in race two is unfortunate, as I thought I had the pace for another rostrum as my best lap was actually about 0.75s faster than it was in the opening race. Regardless of that though, it’s racing, we proved we’re fast and I’m still smiling. I’m walking away from here with my first ever BSB podium and that feeling is incredible! 

It’s been a really tough start to the year, but the team have stuck by me throughout. They’ve done everything I’ve asked of them and the bike today was absolutely faultless. We’ve worked well all weekend and I woke up this morning ready to show everyone what we can do. It’s the JG Speedfit round here at Thruxton too so it’s awesome that we could put a JG Speedfit Kawasaki on the podium in front of all their guests. I’m gutted for James, I’ve seen firsthand how hard he works and he didn’t deserve that. I know he’ll be working on getting back to full fitness already so we’ll no doubt see him back soon.”

JG Speedfit Kawasaki Team Principal Mark Smith-Halvorsen added,

“It’s been an incredibly testing weekend for us here at Thruxton. It’s a great circuit, and one I enjoy coming to but unfortunately we’ve had a disappointing showing. I’m absolutely gutted for James, his crash at Snetterton was because he was the first rider to hit the wet track, resulting in some broken ribs whilst today an engine blow up in front of him saw him crash out at very high speed and breaking his wrist. He’s seeing a specialist tomorrow and although we can’t know for certain when he’ll be back, I’m confident it will be either Cadwell or Oulton. 

Showing the true highs and lows of racing, race one saw us go from dejection with Ellison to joy with Westy in a few laps. He rode incredibly to take his debut podium and I’m so pleased for him. It’s not been an easy opening half of the season for him but we’re now seeing what we know he’s capable of. It’s disappointing an engine failure in the second race prevented him from possibly repeating that but I know it won’t be long until he repeats it!”

MCE British Superbike Calendar 2015

21/22/23 August            Cadwell Park (Lincolnshire)
4/5/6 September            Oulton Park International (Cheshire)
18/19/20 September      TT Circuit Assen (The Netherlands)
2/3/4 October                Silverstone GP (Northamptonshire)
16/17/18 October           Brands Hatch GP (Kent)