The Swan Honda team had a difficult day at the sixth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Knockhill today.

On raceday an early torrential downpour caused a delay before warm up but then James Ellison proved the pace of the Swan Honda by topping the timesheets with Stuart Easton in seventh. However they were unable to translate their early pace into results in the opening race as both Stuart Easton and James Ellison struggled with lack of rear grip which saw them finish in 19th and 24th respectively. The team were ready to make amends in the second race but due to the weather conditions it was cancelled and will now take place at the next round at Snetterton on Saturday following qualifying.

Ellison said:

“The weekend started well for me and I was getting faster with every session and to qualify fifth was amazing all things considered. This morning it was really wet and that wasn’t a massive issue as in warm up I was fastest to put the Swan Honda team back where we need to be but it didn’t come together in the race. We had a problem with rear traction and we don’t know what the issue was, but we had no drive out of the corners and it was just a nightmare really for both me and Stuart. It was a real hero to zero feeling and it is really disappointing as we had the potential for a podium or maybe even a win with the wet setting we found in warm up. We are going to go back to the drawing board on that one but it is just a shame that we got caught out by the weather and didn’t get the chance to make amends in the second race.”

Easton said:

“Firstly I want to say thank you to the Knockhill staff and the marshals and officials here today as they worked so hard and the race was just scuppered by the weather and of course there is nothing you can do to stop that. In race one myself and James had the same problem and we are still not sure what caused it, but we just had no rear grip. I kept trying though but finished 19th which is obviously not where I want to be. We made some changes for race two and we think that might have solved the issue, but we never really got the chance to try it. The right decision was made at the end of the day, but I feel for the fans and everyone involved. All in all it was another bad weekend for me so I need to regroup and get myself back on that podium at Snetterton, especially as there is three races now.”

Swan Honda team manager Shaun Muir concluded:

“We had an issue with the bike setting and both riders suffered from the same problem which we were hoping to rectify for the second race. We obviously didn’t get the chance to put it right here today, but it is the best result all round as the conditions were getting worse and now the team will regroup and come back at Snetterton ready to make amends.”