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The sixth round of the Bennetts British
Superbike Championship proved to be one of the lesser successful
qualifying sessions for Hydrex Bike Animal Honda riders James
Ellison and Guy Martin at Mallory Park today.
At the 1.41 mile compact Leicestershire oval,
the pair couldn't take advantage of  the unusually dry conditions for
once at the end of the Swan Combi 50 Roll for Pole qualifying
session.
Experimenting with a new traction control
system, 27 year old Ellison ended up in 15th position and will start
tomorrow's two, 30-lap races from row four of the grid.
However it was even worse for 26 year old Martin
whose best time of 58.486s only qualified him in 24th position and
as a result he will start from the sixth row of the grid in
tomorrow's races.
James Ellison: "It
was another bad qualifying position. We were trying out the
traction control on the second bike but we haven't got a base
setting for it yet so its just been like a test day really.
Half way through the session I jumped on the bike I've been using
all year and immediately went quicker, but then I couldn't get a
clear track as the track is so small you just can't get past
anyone. I now need to decide which bike to use tomorrow, so
I'll have to sleep on it. I'm just disappointed as to where
we've qualified."
Guy Martin: "We're
still fine tuning the bike. I felt I was really pushing the
front end but I seem to be going against a brick wall even though I
feel like I'm really riding the wheels off it. I think we just
need to do some work for the morning warm up, and I need to make it
count on the start so I can get some points this weekend. Points
make prizes, don't they."
Shaun Muir (Team Owner):
"Both riders haven't relished coming here. James can't
quite get used to riding so close to the barriers and his confidence
has suffered a bit. Both James and Guy have a lot of hard work
to do tomorrow but if James can get a characteristically good start
there's no reason why he can't come in the top six and get some
points in the bag."
The first of the two 30-lap races gets underway
at 1.15pm on Sunday with the second at 4.20pm. The British
Eurosport live broadcast window is 1.00pm to 2.30pm and 3.30pm to
5.15pm.
Qualifying
1,
Tom Sykes (Suzuki) 56.005s, 2, Michael Laverty (Suzuki) 56.109s, 3,
Shane Byrne (Ducati) 56.127s, 4, Cal Crutchlow (Honda) 56.135s, 5,
Leon Haslam (Honda) 56.234s, 6, Michael Rutter (Ducati) 56.336s, 7,
Karl Harris (Yamaha) 56.435s, 8, Tristan Palmer (Honda) 56.494s, 9,
John Laverty (Ducati) 56.534s, 10, Billy McConnell (Kawasaki)
56.535s. 15, James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda)
56.941s. 24, Guy Martin (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda)
58.486s.
Photograph attached courtesy of Turn One
Photography.
Round 2 -
18th/20th April - Thruxton, Hants
Round 3 - 3rd/5th May - Oulton
Park, Cheshire
Round 1 - 10th/11th May - Brands Hatch GP,
Kent
Round 4 - 24th/26th May - Donington Park, Leics
Round 5 -
13th/15th June - Snetterton, Norfolk
Round 6 - 27th/29th
June - Mallory Park
Round 7 - 18th/20th July - Oulton
Park, Cheshire
Round 8 - 8th/10th August - Knockhill,
Fife
Round 9 - 23rd/25th August - Cadwell Park, Lincs
Round 10
- 12th/14th September - Croft, North Yorkshire
Round 11 -
26th/28th September, Silverstone, Northants
Round 12 - 10th/12th
October - Brands Hatch Indy, Kent
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