The 27 year old Cumbrian was consistently inside the top seven riders throughout the session which was held on a wet track to start off with, but dried out throughout the 50 minutes of the session. But with a number of quicker laps coming in the dying minutes, Ellison found himself bumped back to ninth position meaning he heads row three of the grid for the two 18-lap races.



Starting directly behind him on row four will be team mate Guy Martin who set thirteenth fastest time, despite sliding off late in the session. The 26 year old Humbersider set a number of consistent laps in the difficult conditions and is confident going into tomorrow's two races.



James Ellison: "We've still got some issues but we'll get there. The first two races at Thruxton were like a test for us and we haven't been out since then and this is such a different track that it's like starting from scratch again with our settings. The conditions were not ideal today and also because of the new tyre rule meaning you have to use the tyres that you have stickered up, we ended up not using the ones we wanted. I'd have been happier if I'd been on the second row but we'll just have to see how it goes tomorrow and hope I get a good start."



Guy Martin: "I want sacking after I slid off, but I didn't think I'd done anything wrong on the bike, it was just one of those things. The boys want me to use the new forks so coming here is just like another test really but if we keep plugging away it will come, and hope we have a good couple of races tomorrow. A lot worse happens at sea!"



Shaun Muir (Team Owner): "I'm generally happy with both riders' performance, their times were improving each time out. James is making good moves forwards and will have a reasonably good start position to keep him up with the fast guys in front of him. I expect him to be in the top four and a podium isn't out of question. Guy is gaining confidence all the time in his build up to the roads and I expect him to be in the top twelve. I'm looking forward to seeing what James can do on a circuit he likes and we're looking forward to race day."



Race one gets underway at 1.00pm on Sunday, with race two at 3.30pm.



Qualifying

1, Cal Crutchlow (Honda) 1m36.605s, 2, Shane Byrne (Ducati) 1m37.188s, 3, Tom Sykes (Suzuki) 1m37.244s, 4, Leon Haslam (Honda) 1m37.390s, 5, Michael Rutter (Honda) 1m37.510s, 6, Karl Harris (Yamaha) 1m37.908s, 7, Leon Camier (Ducati) 1m38.089s, 8, Michael Laverty (Suzuki) 1m38.565s, 9, James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) 1m38.653s, 10, Simon Andrews (Yamaha) 1m38.712s..13, Guy Martin (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) 1m39.335s.



Round 1 - 4th/6th April - Brands Hatch GP, Kent

Round 2 - 18th/20th April - Thruxton, Hants

Round 3 - 3rd/5th May - Oulton Park, Cheshire

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