JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s James Ellison tired a new spec of Showa fork at the Snetterton MCE British Superbike test and found they give him more feel and feeback which he will need at the upcoming Knockhill round.

The Leicester-based Cumbrian spent two days at the Norfolk track trying a raft of settings and parts, including a new fuel tank, but a planned race run at the end of yesterday was rained off.

“We tried some new-spec forks from Showa, which I really liked. Hicky had them at the last round, Leon tried them yesterday and I had them today. I prefer them as they are a little more free, work the tyre less hard and give more feedback, and work better on the bumps,” Ellison told BSN at the track.

“They will work better on British tracks as what they use over in World Superbikes doesn’t necessarily relate to this. They are doing a really good job of giving us a package with the feedback we are looking for. Since Oulton Park I have had a really good feeling with the bike.

“Most of the stuff we tried here was better for feeling, confidence and tyre wear, and we made some good steps forward. OK, we weren’t top of the timesheets but my ideal lap was half a second faster. Today, I was pushing for one but got caught up with a Superstock rider, then it was red flagged, then it rained, so it was a bit frustrating.

“The potential is in there and it isn’t just a setup for this circuit, we can take it to Knockhill. We have set this bike up for bumps. We had planned on doing a race run in the final session but it rained.”