JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s James Ellison is not fazed if the weather conditions are wet or dry during Sunday’s MCE British Superbike double-header at Assen, as he has a solid pace that makes him competitive come rain or shine.
The Cumbrian was struggling somewhat in the dry and was not able to replicate the pace that he had in the rain, but his team changed a spring on his ZX-10R and made the rear of his bike much harder, and he was able to hit the apex’s out on the TT circuit.
Ellison was half a second off pole-setter, Be Wiser Ducati’s Shane Byrne, but he was the fastest Kawasaki out on track and edged team-mate and fellow title challenger, Leon Haslam to go second on the starting grid for the first of two races tomorrow.
“The bike didn’t seem to be turning all weekend and the only way we got it working was in the wet. So we used some of that information and transferred it over to the dry and thought it might work and it didn’t,” said Ellison at the circuit.
“We spun the wheel and picked a setting and put it in for the last session and we changed the springs and it made it quite a bit harder at the rear, and all of a sudden started hitting apex’s again. It would have been nice to go a bit quicker and dip into the 1’35’s - but really happy and chuffed for the team and we are here on the front row.
“We put ourselves in a good position on the grid. If the heavens open (during the races) I will be happy and I enjoy riding in the wet. I got my first international win here in the wet so hopefully we can replicate that tomorrow.”
