British Superbike

Ellison delighted with Cartagena Test results

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James Ellison - Cartegena Test
James Ellison was pleased with improvements made in Cartegena (Credit: Anvil Hire Yamaha)

James Ellison and the Anvil Hire Yamaha team have returned from their three-day test at Cartagena in a confident mood after making some positive improvements to the bike.

Ellison and his crew worked hard across the three days, looking at ways to improve the suspension set-up of his machine. After some positive results, Ellison ended his extensive Spanish pre-season testing programme on a high and is confident heading into the official test next month.

The Cumbrian said:

It’s been pretty good for me, it’s been a long three days of trying lots and lots of different things, the way the sessions ran meant we had a lot of time in between to make changes but not a lot of time on track to assess them, but we have got through a heck of a lot of stuff. 

“We made some really good improvements over the first two days, and day three if I’m being honest we hit a little bit of a wall, but we have found a direction of not to go in today, which is what testing is all about. We now know where we need to start for the next test, but on a whole to sum up the three days they have been really, really positive. We have got through lots of things we wouldn’t be able to at a BSB round, and I think we’ll arrive at the official test pretty much ready and on pace.”

On the other side of the garage, Shaun Winfield was busy working alongside his mentor, Chris Walker, on a solid base set-up for his bike. Feeling confident about the test, Winfield said:

This weekend has gone really well, last time I went to Cartagena was three years ago and ahead of the test I couldn’t remember if turn two was left or right. The first day I started off steady, learning the track again, following James and Chris around really helped because they have lots experience around Cartagena and after that I picked up the pace really quickly.

“We then changed quite a lot on the bike to give me a little bit more grip, which helped me turn the bike a lot better and that worked really well. I followed Chris around for a while, and he pushed me a lot to improve my lap time, we had a good tussle and it really pushed me along. 

“The final day we made dramatic changes, which proved to be the right changes because I produced my personal best lap time on my own. I’m really happy with where I am the moment, the two tests at Jerez and Cartagena have proved really positive and having Chris on-board is driving me forward and giving me confidence. Overall I’m pleased and I’m excited to get back at it at Donington.”

Walker was with the team once more, as he continues his recovery from a broken back suffered in August 2017. The fan favourite praised Winfield following the test:

“He’s improved so much, his riding, the setup of the bike, how he’s working with the team and he’s done a commendable job and it’s exactly how it should be, it’s nice to have been apart of that. 

“We completed a race simulation on the first afternoon, and that really helped, you’ve got to get laps under your belt and Shaun is still relatively inexperienced on a Superbike, and riding a Yamaha is not similar to riding a Kawasaki which he’s rode before. He’s dropped into the times that most of the BSB boys will be doing there next week, so we’re really happy.”

The Anvil Hire Yamaha team will now prepare for the official Bennetts British Superbike Championship test, which will be held at Donington Park on March 20.

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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.
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