The 31 year old from Kendal struggled during the weather-hit free practice and qualifying to start from 20th position on the grid aboard the CRT-specification Aprilia ART but it was in a dramatic race that the former World Endurance and double European Superstock Champion excelled.

Opting for wet tyres at the start, Ellison made a storming start to run in seventh place in the early stages as he diced it out with World Champion Jorge Lorenzo amongst others but as the track dried, like many other riders, he went into the pits to change to the bike with dry tyres.

Re-emerging in 16th place, James gradually battled his way up the leaderboard as the track gradually dried to overtake nine-times World Champion Valentino Rossi and held onto ninth place until the end of the 30-lap race at the Spanish track and in doing so, was first Aprilia home taking third in the CRT class.

The result equalled the ninth place James scored in Malaysia last month and took his tally to 12 points scoring rides in the 18GPs, including three times in the top ten, to consolidate his 16th position in the final standings and fourth in CRT. The result also saw the Penrith-based PBM UK team finish a creditable 11th in the Teams Championship in their rookie season in MotoGP.

James Ellison: “Well, I’m not going to lie, it was another emotional race today, a lot of feelings came out as I was riding round, knowing it was my last GP and knowing my dad wasn’t here to see me do so well and knowing that everything I have worked so hard for all year has come to an end. I’ve really enjoyed working with the PBM UK team and will miss every single one of them especially my garage crew of Phil, Mick, Dave, Dan, Brucie and Glen as we have grown so close through the year enjoying the good times and sticking together through the bad. I’d like to thank Paul Bird for the opportunity this year, Kelly for her hard work behind the scenes and everyone else that made my return to the premier class possible. There are too many to list but I’d like to thank you all individually and you know who you are. Regarding the race I think we made the right decision by starting on wets and pulling in for slicks early on, a ninth place and ninth fastest lap was a great way to end the season. As for the future, who knows, but I will be racing a motorcycle in 2013.”

Phil Borley, Technical Director: “Another very good ride by James today which was achieved again in challenging conditions and to finish the last race of the season in the top ten, equalling our best results and consolidating our fourth position in the CRT rider classification is really satisfying. Our thanks go to James and all the team for their work this year, 2012 has certainly been a memorable year for Paul Bird Motorsport. We look forward to the challenges ahead and will work hard to improve on what we have learned this season.”

Source: Paul Bird Motorsport Press Release
Photo: Ben Davies

The Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana will see Ellison, from Kendal, hoping to bounce back following a crash in the previous round at Phillip Island in Australia which ended the good run of results and had seen him climb to 16th in the standings.

The 31-year-old former World Endurance and double European Superstock champion can mathematically improve to 15th with a solid points scoring ride to match those at Le Mans and Sepang where he impressed and if he could manage that, it would round off a successful season for both rider and team.

With further improvements to the Claiming Rules Team (CRT) specification Aprilia ART recently, James has every chance of challenging the leading CRT riders also and if he can score points again, it will mean he has only missed out on seeing the chequered flag on six occasions out of the 18 Grands Prix this season.

Paul Bird, Team Owner: “I’ve not been to a GP for a while so I’m looking forward to Valencia and I’m hoping that James and the team can get the result they deserve to end the season in style. This year has been a massive challenge and it’s fair to say it’s been very difficult at times but we are committed to this project and we had to start somewhere. Despite all the pressure, James has done a brilliant job in establishing us into MotoGP and I’d like to thank him as it’s been a bit tough at times and wish him well in the future. The team has also done a remarkable job in their first season and all this hard work will stand us in good stead for next season and beyond.”

Source: Paul Bird Motorsport Press Release

The 31 year old from Kendal in Cumbria rates the Phillip Island track as his favourite but could only manage 17th fastest in the opening two Free Practice sessions aboard the CRT-specification Aprilia ART although he did improve one place in the third session.

Any hopes of improvements in qualifying didn’t materialise as James set 17th fastest time and sixth out of the CRT bikes meaning him and the Penrith-based team faced a challenging race around the 4.448km track over 27 laps and a poor start saw James handicapped further.

But things got worse five laps into the race when James crashed out luckily without injury meaning it ended the run of six consecutive points scoring finishes for the Cumbrian, the last time he didn’t see the chequered flag being at Laguna Seca when he fell late on in the race.

Despite the result, James held onto 16th in the World Championship points table with the PBMUK team also retaining their 11th place in the teams’ standings going into the final round at Valencia in two weeks time.

Source: PBMUK

The 31 year old from Kendal in Cumbria had to overcome difficult conditions throughout the weekend and posted 17th fastest in the opening free practice session before claiming tenth in FP2 as the rain played havoc with proceedings.

Having qualified in 16th place aboard the CRT-specification Aprilia ART, Ellison was confident of a good result although race conditions were far from ideal and gradually deteriorated to the point that torrential rain caused the race to be red-flagged seven laps short.

At that point, Ellison was battling for the CRT lead with Aleix Espargaro but with the race shortened, he was denied the opportunity to claim his second CRT victory but the top ten placing meant he claimed the best result to date for the Penrith-based team in their rookie season.

The result sees James climb two places to 16th in the World Championship points table with the PBMUK team also climbing one place in the team’s standings going into the next round at Phillip Island in Australia next weekend.

James Ellison:
“I really enjoyed the race although we didn’t have the front suspension just right but I managed to get around it by adapting my braking technique to compensate. I got into a good rhythm and passed quite a few riders while chasing down Aleix. I closed him down towards the end but the race was rightfully stopped so we bagged a ninth place. I’m so happy for all members of the PBMUK team and already looking forward to my favourite track Phillip Island.”

Phil Borley, Technical Director:
“An excellent ride by James in extremely difficult conditions has rewarded PBMUK with our highest place finish. When other riders were making mistakes, James kept his composure to achieve our first top ten finish. We now go to Phillip Island with the intention of achieving another result that maximises our potential.”

Source: Paul Bird Motorsport

The former World Endurance and double European Superstock champion was making the team’s Japanese debut and gradually improved in free practice to end up 16th in the third session but his qualifying was hampered by a crash early in proceedings which meant he started in 20th place.

Undeterred, James got a great start to battle with the leading CRT runners and was holding his own going into the final stages when he looked in a position to challenge but in the end, 14th position and two more World championship points was what he achieved to maintain his 18th place in the standings going into this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang.

James Ellison:
“It’s another points scoring result and another step closer to the leading CRT teams this weekend so I’m pretty happy with the outcome. We were making big steps forward every session until a crash in qualifying on my first flying lap put us on the back foot again and I ended up 20th out of 22 on the grid. I got a really good start only to be punted wide a few times by another over ambitious rider but once I got clear of him I made ground on Aleix Espargaro and Colin Edwards, passing a few riders along the way. The gap stayed pretty much the same until the last few laps where I managed to pull some time back on them. It was a strong and consistent race and I’m happy with the whole team effort as usual. I also want to take this opportunity to congratulate Paul Bird, Shakey Byrne and the Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki team on wrapping the BSB title up in style, well done boys!”

Phil Borley, Technical Director:
“We can be satisfied with our result in Japan as we achieved our target of finishing closer to the leading CRT riders and scoring some more World championship points. James rode well and had a good race which fortunately was not handicapped too much by his qualifying position. Finishing as third best CRT bike and just six seconds behind the class leader was good and hope we can continue the progress into Sepang this weekend.”

Source: Paul Bird Motorsport

The 14th round of the MotoGP World Championship got off to a damp start with the opening free practice session about washed out but in the second and third sessions, the former World Endurance and double European Superstock champion battled his way up to 14th place in each of them aboard the Penrith-based PBMUK Aprilia CRT.

Qualifying proved disappointing for the 32-year-old from Kendal as he could only manage 20th out of the 21 runners but in the race, Ellison turned things around to battle with Colombian Yonny Hernandez and although the Brit was passed on the last lap, he held on to claim 14th and in doing so added two more points to his tally.

It was the eighth time in the last nine rounds that James had scored points, his only blip coming when he crashed out at Laguna Seca and in total he has recorded nine points scoring rides so far in the Paul Bird Motorsport team’s rookie season.

Going into the three flyaway races starting with Japan in two weeks’ time, James holds 18th in the World Championship classification with the PBMUK team holding 12th in the Team standings.

Phil Borley Technical Director: “It was another weekend of mixed weather that restricted the dry track time but after a disappointing qualifying James made a good start in the race and rode well to hold 13th position for the majority of it. Unfortunately on the penultimate lap he lost this position to one of our rivals and did not have the chance to retake it on the final lap. We used a new specification engine for this race, which had a different power characteristic that James liked, so we hope this will help us continue to reduce the gap to the leading CRT riders at the next race in Japan.”

Source: Paul Bird Motorsport Press Release

Photo: Ben Davies for smartfotos.co.uk

Aboard the PBMUK CRT-specification Aprilia, the 31-year-old from Kendal battled against unseasonable inclement weather for the opening two days but was well up the time sheets when he claimed third fastest overall in Free Practice 1 which he bettered to go second fastest in Free Practice 2.

James posted 16th fastest time in qualifying to start on row six of the grid, fifth fastest of the CRT bikes. The race, which was held in dry and sunny conditions, saw lots of drama as James came home in 13th place and fifth CRT bike, just ten seconds behind leading CRT runner Randy de Puniet.

It was James’ best result since he won the CRT class at Le Mans and took his points scoring tally to eight out of the 13 Grands Prix held so far and consolidates his position in the standings in 18th.

In their rookie season in MotoGP, the Penrith-based PBMUK team remain in 12th in the Team standings going into the next round at Aragon.

Phil Borley, Technical Director: “A mistake at the start unfortunately compromised James’ race which was a pity as his pace was good. After recovering and pushing hard, he just ran out of laps to make a pass for 12th but his 13th place position gave us another points scoring finish which we are pleased with.”

Source: Paul Bird Motorsport

Photo Copyright Simona Vogel for Vroom Media

With improvements being made to the PBMUK Aprilia, the 31-year-old from Kendal was hoping to bridge the gap to the established CRT front-runners but struggled with set-up in the first two practice sessions where he ended up 18th out of the 19 riders.

James improved to 17th in the final free practice session and held that place into qualifying but in the 22 lap race, he scrapped it out with Mattia Pasini for the final point, eventually coming out on top although the pair of them were well over half a minute down on the leading CRT rider Randy de Puniet on his ART Aprilia in eighth place overall.

Despite his and the team’s disappointment, the result sees James jump a place to 18th in the standings whilst the PBMUK team are now 12th in the Team standings going into the next round at Misano.

James Ellison: “I was glad to score another point for PBMUK, but hoped to be more competitive with the leading CRT riders and felt I should have been so I’m disappointed for both me and the team. The bike is good enough now and we made good progress throughout the weekend but Brno has never been a strong circuit for me. The team have worked very hard so I want to thank them and I now look forward to Misano where I will work hard on improving even further.”

Phil Borley, Technical Director: “Although finishing in the points is satisfying, I feel it was another race where we have underachieved. We must realise the full potential of our ART machine, which we believe is one of the most competitive CRT bikes and is capable of challenging for better positions than we are currently achieving. We need to consistently reduce the gap to the leading riders on similar machines, so we will focus on improving our weak areas both before and at the next race.”

Source: Paul Bird Motorsport Press Release

Aboard the PBMUK Aprilia ART, the 31-year-old from Kendal was looking to bounce back in a second successive American race for the Penrith-based team and after a promising start; he was in the mix on the opening couple of laps as he circulated in 13th place.

But just as it was looking promising for the former European Superstock and World Endurance champion, a gearbox problem saw him lose time and relegate him to last meaning it was a battle to climb the leaderboard.

Ellison dug in bravely and despite the problems, he managed to climb to 14th place on the final lap, only for a rival team to protest afterwards alleging that the Brit had gained an unfair advantage when he had to take evasive action following a mechanical problem which caused him to short cut a part of the track.

The result sees James drop to 19th in the standings whilst the PBMUK team dropped two places to 13th in the Team standings going into next weekend’s Czech Republic Grand Prix in Brno.

James Ellison: “The race yesterday was frustrating as we had a really good start and a really strong pace but a gearbox problem forced us out of contention so it was basically just a case of salvaging as many points as possible. I was up to 13th on lap one and battling with Toni Elias and Karel Abraham but as I went into Turn 1 on lap three, there was a problem with the gearbox which caused me to run off the track losing nearly 20 seconds and putting me dead last by a long way. I fought so hard to get back in the points and the problem reoccurred two more times with the same outcome, only the third time it happened, it caused me to cut the track and accidently gain a 1.6 second advantage. I didn’t really think a lot of it given I had lost so much time and was delighted to have finished 14th in the race but a protest was put in by the rider I beat which was upheld and put us down to 15th. I think it was a bit harsh as we lost over 20 seconds with the other two excursions and if you ask me, it was just bad sportsmanship and I was very disappointed that we didn’t get the additional point we worked so hard for. I have raced against Steve Rapp in AMA and have a lot of respect for him and his Attack team so am disappointed they resorted to this.”

Paul Bird, Team Owner: “Fair play to James, he rode well considering the problems and did well to bring the bike home in the points although I do feel we missed out on scoring big at Indy. It’s important we get as many laps under our belts and finishing races is the first priority. I had to smile when I heard about the protest from Steve Rapp and his team, if a 40-year-old coming towards the end of his career wants an additional one place GP finish on his CV so badly, then he’s welcome to it and it probably makes them feel a little bit better for not even qualifying at Laguna Seca. Either way, we go to Brno next weekend looking to improve and we hope to add to our CRT victory in France.”

Source: Paul Bird Motorsport Press Release

Aboard the PBMUK Aprilia, the 31 year old from Kendal was hoping to improve on his 16th place in the standings as well as the tenth place which the Penrith-based team held in the Team Championship but after a promising start in FP1, which saw him improve to 16th in FP3, qualifying once again proved difficult leaving James down in 21st position and last of the official qualifiers.

With the technical issues he experienced in qualifying sorted, Ellison got a great start and was running with the leading group of CRT machines around the short and twisty Californian circuit when with just 13 laps to go and battling inside the points once more, the Cumbrian slid off without injury.

Despite the setback, James remains 16th in the standings although the PBMUK team dropped a place to 11th going into a short break which will see the next round also take place in the USA, this time at the legendary Indianapolis circuit on August 19th.

James Ellison: “I’m really disappointed that we couldn’t carry on the string of points scoring results especially when we have come all this way to the USA. The weekend started out really strong for us in FP1 and showed we had good pace but we have been plagued with a quickshifter problem all weekend which has been causing me a lot of issues on the track, mainly missing the apexes as it would over accelerate on down shifts. Aprilia managed to fix it by the warm up and we were confident of a strong race again so my hopes were high for a good result. I got a good start and had a good few battles including lapping consistently under my qualifying time but that unfortunately came to an abrupt end when I pushed a little too hard into Turn 3 and folded the front under braking. I was pushing hard to make up for our poor grid position and just crossed that fine line of where there is grip and where there is none. I’m so disappointed for the whole PBMUK team but we will come out fighting at Indy for sure.”

Paul Bird, Team Owner: “As James said, it was a long way for nothing and it’s disappointing we couldn’t get to the finish. There were only 14 finishers and we weren’t one of them. We have a short break now and during that time, we need to work on our game to make sure that when we arrive at Indy, there are no excuses from either the bike or the rider as I’m looking for some improvements all round in the final few races of the season as already our thoughts are turning to next season.”

Source: Paul Bird Motorsport Press Release