Jentin Racing retains British Superbike Cup lead

James Ellison
By Bernard Toleman
June 22 2004

James Ellison and the Jentin Racing British Superbike team had a solid weekend at Brands Hatch with a fifth and third in the two Superbike Cup races which has kept them at the top of the championship table.

Following on from the very strong results the previous two weekends at Thruxton and the World Superbike event at Silverstone Ellison and the Jentin team struggled to find the right set-up for the demanding Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit.

First qualifying saw Ellison record a very uncharacteristic nineteenth with a number of small handling issues that neither he or the team could immediately put their finger on. With further changes between sessions the team fared no better during second qualifying with Ellison eventually slipping one spot to a disappointing twentieth.

Team Manager Bernard Toleman was puzzled as to why they couldn't extract a quick time. "The last time we were here was at the start of the season and we were in the very early stages of development with the Yamaha YZF-R1. We have come a long way since then but James times today fell short of both his and our expectations. We will work on the problem tonight and see what tomorrow brings."

Race-day was a complete contrast to the sunny, warm conditions during Saturday qualifying. The rain held off until just prior to the first Superbike race when the heavens opened with the rain continuing throughout the afternoon.

Race one saw James move up to eighteenth outright after the first lap and he fought his way through to fifteenth by the finish as the fifth Superbike Cup rider home. With yet further small changes to the chassis between races Ellison was able to improve on the first race coming home in thirteenth outright and collecting the final and very welcome podium position in the Superbike Cup.

Ellison reported that he was much happier with the set-up of the bike for the second race. "We have had a number of minor set-up problems with the R1 all weekend which have affected our performance. The team have stuck at it though and I was much happier with the set-up in the second race which was reflected in the better results."

After three weekends of consecutive racing the Stroud based Jentin squad are looking forward to a weeks break before making the trip north to the Scottish highlands for the next round of the British Superbike championship at Knockhill.