Although the first of three races did not go to plan for the JG Speedfit Kawasaki team, with a decision to run the harder compound rear tyre not going the way the team expected, it has been a strong start regardless with James Ellison topping practice and Luke Stapleford regularly running top ten pace.  

With the iconic Brands Hatch circuit in Kent playing host to the final round of the 2015 MCE British Superbike Championship, the JG Speedfit Kawasaki duo of James Ellison and Luke Stapleford enjoyed a strong start. With rain falling throughout the opening day of practice, James elected not to head out in the first practice session whilst Luke took to the 2.4 mile circuit for his first wet laps aboard the ZX-10R Superbike. With conditions remaining damp for second free practice, James finished the first day in fourth with Luke sixteenth.

Although conditions dried up for Saturday, it remained cold throughout the day. An impressive final practice session saw James top the timesheets with Luke continuing to impress on only his second round aboard a Superbike by finishing in seventh. Qualifying saw both riders ease through Q1, with Stapleford eventually securing 14th on the grid for the opening race. Despite progressing through the final session and capable of challenging for the front row, with rain falling around the circuit James did not want to risk a crash, securing seventh place on the grid.

With overcast conditions ahead of the Saturday afternoon race, and conditions remaining cold, both James and Luke opted to use the harder Pirelli rear tyre for the race. Launching from his seventh place start, James immediately moved into sixth however with the front runners utilising the softer compound he wasn’t able to run the same lap times. Slipping back to eighth, the difference between the two compounds unfortunately was not as much as the team had hoped and James took the chequered flag in sixth. It was a similar story for Luke, who secured 17th in only his third Superbike race.

The JG Speedfit Kawasaki team will be back in action tomorrow at Brands Hatch for the final two races of the 2015 MCE British Superbike Championship.

“That wasn’t a great race. After Silverstone we were in two minds whether to run the softer or the harder compound. We ran an SC1 here last year and were able to secure a close second place whilst in the race earlier this year we used the softer SC0 and got third but our times naturally dropped off a little towards the end. We thought if we could run with the front guys during the opening half of today’s race then the tyre would come to us and we would be able to push at the front. 

Unfortunately the times didn’t change as much as we had hoped and we couldn’t challenge the top three. It was something we had to try and we know which direction to go tomorrow. We’ve shown we can run podium pace though and I’m confident tomorrow will see us finish on the box!”

With five races over the weekend, Luke Stapleford added

“It’s a busy weekend again! The riding isn’t actually proving too difficult and I’m enjoying riding both the Supersport and the JG Speedfit Kawasaki ZX-10R. With the weather yesterday, it meant both sessions were pretty much a write off but in today’s dry practice we had a great showing and I did think we had the pace to make Q3 during qualifying, but it wasn’t to be! I’m still really pleased though. 

That race didn’t quite go to plan, we thought the harder tyre would be the right choice with the colder conditions but unfortunately the difference between the two compounds wasn’t as much as we predicted. I’m looking forward to tomorrow though, we have great pace and I’m confident we can get two good races under our belt.”

JG Speedfit Kawasaki Team Manager Mike Kane added,

“Although the results might not have gone quite how we predicted in that race, the weekend as a whole has been very strong. Luke continues to stand out in only his second weekend on a Superbike and is moving further and further up the timesheets – incredibly impressive given those around him have been riding them all season. The team are working really well and I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do tomorrow. 

James continues to do what he does best, running at the front during practice and definitely having the pace for the front row during qualifying but just unfortunately he got caught out with the weather. The race didn’t quite go as we planned, in hindsight we should have gone with a SC0 but we were still able to get a good result. We know what we need to do for tomorrow and I’m confident we’ll see James return to the podium.”