Hydrex Bike Animal Honda rider James Ellison will start tomorrow's two Bennetts British Superbike Championship races from the second row of the grid after posting eighth fastest time in qualifying today at Oulton Park in Cheshire.

With mixed weather conditions throughout the day, luckily the 50-minute Swan Combi 50 Roll for Pole qualifying session stayed dry and Ellison ran well up on the time sheets for most of the session before having to settle for eighth in the closing throes.

After some promising times set yesterday during free practice, the 27 year old from Kendal is confident going into tomorrow's two 18-lappers at the circuit where he scored his one and only podium finish of the season so far.

For team mate Guy Martin, his traumatic season on the short circuits continued when he only managed 22nd position aboard the second of the Shaun Muir Racing Honda Fireblades. Starting from row six, Martin has lots of work to do to try and better his best finish of ninth position so far in the series.

Also in action for the team was Kieran Clarke making his debut on the team's 1000cc Honda Superstock machine in the Metzeler 1000 Superstock race. After qualifying in 28th position, the Derbyshire rider, after a couple of years' absence from the sport, battled his way through to eventually take 17th at the chequered flag. With his first race under his belt Clarke is more confident going into tomorrow's second race, which forms part of this weekend's double-header in the class.

James Ellison: "I'm disappointed, it would have been nice to have been on the front row and I definitely felt like I should be. We've been moving forwards all the time but in this session we just seemed to make a sideways step and we have a problem with the bike which we need to sort. The bike potentially feels really good and I know we can go quicker so I'm hoping for a couple of podiums tomorrow."

Guy Martin: "We seem to have hit a brick wall really. We're going to get together tonight with our ideas and try some different things. I'm struggling a bit coming back from the roads again, especially with the chicanes. But it will come and at the end of the day I'm a racer not a qualifier, and Robert's your father's brother!"

Shaun Muir (Team Owner): "Guy's struggling with coming back from the Southern 100 roads a little bit and needs a little time to get adjusted, but we'd like to see him to get a couple of points in both races and hope we get a dry race. James has taken a big step forwards on the electronics with his number one bike which he will run in the race whether it's wet or dry. We're pretty happy with James having a second row start and optimistic of podium finishes."

Kieran Clarke: "It's never very good starting from the back of the grid and I just struggled from not having much time on the bike. With the bike being set up from the TT, we had to make a lot of changes and I need to get my racecraft back. I've spent a lot of time at the Ron Haslam Race School but its no match for racing. The team has been fantastic and it's really nice. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's race and hopefully we can make some more progress."

The first of the two 18-lap Bennetts British Superbike races gets underway at 1.15pm on Sunday with the second at 4.30pm. The Metzeler 1000 Superstock race is scheduled for 5.20pm. The British Eurosport live broadcast window is 1.00pm to 2.30pm and 3.30pm to 6.00pm.

Qualifying
1. Cal Crutchlow (Honda) 1:36.298s, 2. Shane Byrne (Ducati) 1:36.590s, 3. Tom Sykes (Suzuki) 1:36.591s, 4. Leon Haslam (Honda) 1:36.821s, 5. Karl Harris (Yamaha) 1:36.831s, 6. Simon Andrews (Yamaha) 1:37.105s, 7. Michael Rutter (Ducati) 1:37.371s, 8. James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) 1:37.558s, 9. Tristan Palmer (Honda) 1:37.800s, 10. Billy McConnell (Kawasaki) 1:37.840s. 22. Guy Martin (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) 1:39.847s


Round 2 - 18th/20th April - Thruxton, Hants
Round 3 - 3rd/5th May - Oulton Park, Cheshire
Round 1 - 10th/11th May - Brands Hatch GP, Kent
Round 4 - 24th/26th May - Donington Park, Leics
Round 5 - 13th/15th June - Snetterton, Norfolk
Round 6 - 27th/29th June - Mallory Park
Round 7 - 18th/20th July - Oulton Park, Cheshire
Round 8 - 8th/10th August - Knockhill, Fife
Round 9 - 23rd/25th August - Cadwell Park, Lincs
Round 10 - 12th/14th September - Croft, North Yorkshire
Round 11 - 26th/28th September, Silverstone, Northants
Round 12 - 10th/12th October - Brands Hatch Indy, Kent