KENDAL rider James Ellison has been familiarising himself with Moto GP race circuits by playing his Playstation 3 as he prepares for his return to the world championship.

Ellison, 31, begins winter training this week as he prepares for a return to Moto GP in April and admits he couldn’t wait to get on the bike for his new team, Paul Bird Motorsport UK.

He said: “I’m just training as hard as I can everyday which includes cycling, gym sessions, swimming, climbing and trials riding as well as a few hours a week on the PS3 MotoGP game to keep the tracks fresh in my head.

“I have a completely different bike and the one I will be using in MotoGP will have over 100bhp more than my World Supersport bike and the Aprilia ART will be completely prototype.”

Ellison, who competed in both World Supersport and British Superbike championships in 2011, said the electronics used for traction control and anti-wheelies, and braking strategies would be far more advanced but he was excited about learning the various settings and squeezing the best out of the bike.

Speaking of his hopes for the new season, he was aware of 2012 being PBM’s debut season in Moto GP.

My personal aim is to be the front CRT rider, whether or not that is realistic I don’t know for sure, but that is my aim and that is what I have been training and preparing for,” he said.

“It is a learning year for all involved, its PBMUK’s first season in MotoGP, a first for the Aprilia ART machine, my first year on Bridgestones and the first season for the CRT Machines so predictions are just that. We won't know how competitive we will be until at least round one in Qatar on April 8.”

The PBM UK team will test in Jerez and Aragon. The official Moto GP test will also be in Jerez on March 23 to 25.