Superbikes - Podium reprieve at Knockhill (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Superbikes - Podium reprieve at Knockhill

2:18pm Monday 6th July 2009 in

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KENDAL’S James Ellison finished Sunday’s Knockhill showdown in Scotland on a positive note with a podium-place after a torrid first-race experience.

Meanwhile, Ellison’s Airwaves Yamaha team-mate Leon Camier put together another coulple of pristine performances to pull off his third consecutive winning double.

Ellison was the last person other than Camier to win a race in the ViSK Superbike Championship back in May at Donington Park.

But in Scotland it was a familiar story as Ellison took third on the podium for race two after a crash forced him to battle back from 18th to take fifth place in the first race.

Ellison said afterwards: I was just delighted to get back on the podium in the second race because Airwaves Yamaha does not deserve to be in fifth and I was thinking about digging out my P45 after race one.”

He explained: “I was up for the first race and I knew I would have to chip away at whoever is in front of me.

“But my start was absolutely horrible and was the worst one I had this year. And then Karl Harris crashed right in front of me and I had no choice to go straight into him and that really held me back.

“So it could have been a real disaster because I crossed the line in 18th place after I got slowed down by Harris. But I kept pushing and I managed to pip Ian Lowry on the line which was great.

Camier now has a monster lead at the top of the standings with second place Ellison trailing his teammate by 78 points.

And Ellison admits he has no immediate solution to Camier’s recent dominance on the track.

“It is disappointing to keep losing so many points to Leon,” he said. “I came here to beat him but it is so difficult when you keep getting little setbacks.

“I clawed some points back on Leon and to get Airwaves Yamaha’s first win at Knockhill with Leon Camier is pretty special.

“I didn't deserve to finish fifth in race one and I proved that in the second race and I am lot happier because of it. I equalled my best lap time in qualifying and that shows how much I have improved.

“We worked on things in between the two races and I put it into practice which is positive. “ * British Eurosport 2 has live coverage from every round of the 2009 British Superbike Championship. See the action on Sky channel 411 or Virgin Media channel 525. Next race Mallory Park on Sunday, July 19, and for updates head to uk.eurosport.yahoo.com