JAMES Ellison made his return to the Moto GP World Championship as he turned out for the Paul Bird Motorsport Team in Qatar on Sunday.

Ellison, 31, from Kendal, had a spell in Moto GP in 2006 and joined the Penrith-based team, headed by Phil Borley, at the end of 2011.

Atop his CRT-specification Aprilia ART, Ellison emerged with an 18th place finish under the floodlights at the Losail circuit.

Earlier in the weekend, the former British Superbike and World Supersport star, had come off his bike but the team made huge strides forward in Doha as they get to grips with their first season in Moto GP.

Ellison said: “All things considered it’s been a positive weekend as we have gathered more valuable information in the race than we have in the few days we have tested before Qatar.

“I understand how the bike, tyres and brakes need to be ridden now but it is seriously like riding on a knife edge so finding the limit without crashing is tough.

“You need to brake super-hard to generate the heat in the discs and also at the same time deform the tyre enough to generate the heat in it for the corner entry.”

Ellison is currently the only rider for the team but it is hoped an all-British challenge will develop during the next couple of seasons.

He added: “The whole team have had a gruelling weekend with the time schedule of night racing and unscheduled tip off but have stayed positive throughout.

“I’d like to say a big thank you to all of them for their hard work and I now look forward to learning and pushing forward in Jerez.”

The main race was won by Jorge Lorenzo who overtook Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner to take the first race on his Yamaha Factory Racing bike. Briton Cal Crutchlow finished fourth ahead of his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team-mate Andrea Dovizioso.