#FuelledByXpressCoffee Yamaha Rider James Ellison
Easter Weekend saw the MCE British Superbike Championship and our #FuelledByXpressCoffee riders roll in to the Garden of England to Brands Hatch to take on the somewhat dizzying 1.2 mile Indy layout of the historic Kent track. The first of the now traditional three visits to the famous circuit is held on the shorter layout due to noise restrictions on the full track, with only a set number of ‘loud’ days for the GP layout available across the season.
McAMS Yamaha pairing James Ellison and Michael Laverty arrived in determined moods with host of data from the opening round and new upgrades to their Yamaha R1s. Ellison was fast from the first session, Brands suits James’s style and nothing proved that more than by setting Pole Position with the fastest-ever Superbike lap of the Indy circuit, a stunning 44.728s! Michael continued his methodical work from Donington Park, eager to dial out the issues that hampered his progress at Round 1. Steps were made during Free Practice which showed in qualifying with progression to Q3 and eventually a 9th place start for race one.
#FuelledByXpressCoffee True Heroes Team
After the successes of qualifying, race day was a day to forget for one half of the McAMS Yamaha team as , while holding a commanding race lead, James slipped off at Druids. The Cumbrian was thankfully uninjured in the seemingly innocuous slide, however the same couldn’t be said for his Yamaha R1 that slid straight in to a pretty solid tyre wall, seriously damaging the front of the machine. Team mate Laverty brought home a solid 8th place for the team to bank crucial points after the race 2 no-score last time out.
It was a race against time for Ellison and his crew to rebuild the Yamaha in time for Race 2, a race that, despite making it out to the grid on time, was ultimately fruitless as the machine was deemed unrideable by James after the sighting lap. Despite the heroic efforts of Spanner and the crew to identify and remedy the issue on the grid, James brought the bike back down pit lane on the warm-up lap, there ending any further participation. 11th place in Race 2, more points for Michael and two races of data collection will be a positive for the popular Northern Irishman ahead of an official test at Oulton Park on 20th April.
#FuelledByXpressCoffee’s Pirelli National STK1000 riders Tom Tunstall and Jordan Weaving both qualified well for the first of two races around the Indy circuit, veteran campaigner Tom started 11th and class rookie Jordan in 15th place. Now, 15th place might not sound great to some of you, but considering he was just 0.6s off the fastest time and only 0.06s behind fellow Xpress Coffee man Tunstall, it shows just how tight times were this weekend.
Our Guest from Death in Paradise Danny John Jules
The 38-lap 50 mile race on Sunday afternoon was cut short due to rain falling over the circuit, the race being declared a result as more then 2/3 distance was achieved. Jordan took the spoils ahead of Tom for a creditable 11th place, useful points for both riders. Race 2 on Monday saw grid positions secured from the fastest laps set during Race 1 with Jordan starting 10th and Tom in 16th. This time the race went without hindrance, both riders making it to the chequered flag as Jordan secured 13th place and Tom in 20th.
Next outing for the #FuelledByXpressCoffee riders is Oulton park in Cheshire for Round 3 of the respective championships over Bank Holiday Weekend, 29 April – 1st May, where we’ll also hopefully welcome Andy Reid and Josh Elliott back to the Xpress Coffee fold, if not actually on track, as yet.
Great to have our #FuelledByXpressCoffee friend & TV/Film star Danny John Jules with us for the weekend best known for Death in Paradise & playing TheCat in Red Dwarf.