British Superbike

Ellison breaks lap-record to take pole at Brands Hatch

2 Mins read

James Ellison smashed the lap-record around the Brands Hatch Indy Circuit to take pole position for round two of the 2015 MCE British Superbike Championship.

Ellison’s lap-time of 45.310 was enough to beat Gregorio Lavilla’s old record of 45.460, which has stood since the 2007 season.

Ellison will be joined on the front row by Jakub Smrz, who impressed on his Lloyds British Moto Rapido Ducati machine, and Buildbase BMW’s Ryuichi Kiyonari.

Josh Brookes heads row two ahead of the PBM Kawasaki duo of Shane Byrne and Stuart Easton.

Jason O’Halloran stepped up to the challenge following Dan Linfoot’s wrist injury to put his Honda Fireblade seventh on grid. He will start alongside Christian Iddon and Milwaukee Yamaha’s Broc Parkes on row three.

Team WD40 Kawasaki rider, Jack Kennedy, put in one of the performances of the weekend to put himself 10th on the grid, despite having suffered from a huge hiside during free practice this morning.

It was Brookes who topped Q1 with a lap-time of 45.643 ahead of Kiyonari and Ellison.

The first session didn’t go to plan for Smiths Racing BMW rider, Billy McConnell, who had to stop out on track due to suspected gearbox problems. McConnell did return to the track with five minutes remaining but was unable to put in a competitive lap-time and ended up down in 30th position.

Q1 also brought an end to Michael Laverty’s (25th) and Peter Hickman’s (22nd) day, along with Taylor Mackenzie (23rd) on the Team WD40 Kawasaki machine.

Michael Rutter (24th) also went out in Q1 on his return to the series with the Gearlink Kawasaki team.

Q2 saw Ellison go quickest of the pack with a lap-time of 45.403, just 0.043s quicker than the impressive Iddon.

Tommy Bridewell’s (11th) session came to end after he encountered traffic on his final lap, with Danny Buchan (12th) joining him back in the pit-lane. The Be Wiser Kawasaki rider suffered a huge hiside during free practice this morning and will have been riding in some pain.

Into Q3 and it was the two Milwaukee Yamaha riders, Brookes and Parkes, who battled for the pole position, with both riders going quickest early on.

Srmz then went to the top of the timing sheets, before Ellison popped up to break the lap-record around the 1.2mile Indy circuit.

Nobody could get close to the JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider who has been looking strong and comfortable around the track all weekend so far.

Race one at Brands Hatch gets underway at 13:30 tomorrow, with race two then scheduled to begin at 16:30.

Brands Hatch Indy Qualifying Result

[table id=140 /]

Avatar photo
590 posts

About author
Josh is a Sports Journalism graduate and has been a member of the TCF team since 2015. Between 2015 and 2018, Josh focused primarily on British Superbikes and Road Racing events such as the Isle of Man TT. At the beginning of the 2019 season he became the MotoGP Reporter.
Articles
Related posts
British SuperbikeDakarRoad Racing

Isle of Man TT winner James Hillier set for Dakar Rally debut in 2023 Malle Moto

2 Mins read
After a delay, James Hillier will make his first Dakar Rally start in 2023. Riding in the Malle Moto class, he will be the first Isle of Man TT winner to challenge Dakar.
British Superbike

Exclusive interview with Ben Luxton

3 Mins read
Getting to know one of the UK’s rising talents. Here’s an exclusive interview with British Superstock 600 rider Ben Luxton
British SuperbikeRoad Racing

Honda Racing confirm their 2020 British Superbike plans

1 Mins read
Honda Racing have announced their British Superbike and Superstock plans, along with their road racing plans for the 2020 season.