James Ellison in the Points at Aragon

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Despite the weather once again playing havoc with proceedings, Britain's James Ellison continued his season of points scoring rides when he claimed 14th place in this weekend's Gran Premio Iveco De Aragon at Motorland Aragon in Spain.

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."

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Karel Abraham Leads Misano FP2 MotoGP

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Not much action from FP2 MotoGP at Misano circuit today. Karel Abraham leads the practice session with 1'42.030 on his best lap. James Ellison on second fastest 1'43.204, while Michele Pirro on third fastest 1'44.299. About eleven riders out to the track this afternoon excluding Jorge Lorenzo, Dani Pedrosa, and Valentino Rossi

1 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing 1'42.030

2 James ELLISON Paul Bird Motorsport 1'43.204

3 Michele PIRRO San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'44.299

4 Yonny HERNANDEZ Avintia Blusens 1'44.565

5 Jonathan REA Repsol Honda Team 1'44.999

6 Danilo PETRUCCI Came IodaRacing Project 1'45.048

7 David SALOM Avintia Blusens 1'46.351

8 Ben SPIES Yamaha Factory Racing 1'46.471

9 Randy DE PUNIET Power Electronics Aspar 1'50.103

10 Mattia PASINI Speed Master 1'50.641

11 Alvaro BAUTISTA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'50.977

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Danilo Petrucci Leads the Misano Damp Track FP1

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Danilo Petrucci leads the FP1 MotoGP 1'43.178 after only 9 riders on Misano track this morning. Michelle Pirro on second fastest 1'43.327, while James Ellison on third fastest 1'45.730. Ben Spies and Nicky Hayden were the only factory riders who take the practice session due to damp track.

1 Danilo PETRUCCI Came IodaRacing Project 1'43.178

2 Michele PIRRO San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'43.327

3 James ELLISON Paul Bird Motorsport 1'45.730

4 David SALOM Avintia Blusens 1'46.886

5 Ben SPIES Yamaha Factory Racing 1'48.298

6 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team 1'48.409

7 Yonny HERNANDEZ Avintia Blusens 1'48.553

8 Mattia PASINI Speed Master 1'50.482

9 Colin EDWARDS NGM Mobile Forward Racing 1'53.064

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Another Best CRT for Aspar Power Electronic on Le Mans CRT?

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Aspar Power Electoric got 2 best CRT awards on Europe race at Jerez and Estoril. The next race will be on Le Mans. Without Colin Edwards, who got the best CRT on Qatar GP, the chance for Aspar Power Electronic is bigger.

Only 2 riders and 2 teams so far on the best CRT. Colin Edwards (NGM Mobile Forward Racing) and Aleix Espargaro (Aspar Power Electronic). Randy De Puniet, Espargaro's teammate was 2 times on 2nd best CRT. After a last Aspar's battle on Estoril, De Puniet told that he hope for a better result.

Michel Pirro from Gresini should be a good competitor, but it looks that his performance on Gresini's CRT was not as expected. Duo Avintia, Yonny Hernandez and Ivan Silva, Danilo Petrucci on Ioda and Mattia Pasini (Speed Master) have not shown good performance. James Ellison also struggle with chatter issue. So the battle left to Aleix Espargaro and Edandy De Puniet.

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No Replacement for Ellison on Le Mans

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After a replacement rumors on James Ellison to Shane Bryne, Paul Bird Motorsport has announced there is no replacement on Le Mans GP. Ellison will still ride on the Aprillia CRT.

Phil Borley the technical director says, "It was unfortunate that James didn't finish the race in Estoril but he proved what the machine was capable of in Jerez,”

He continue, “This is a long-term project and we have to look at all options available to us in achieving our goals, which both the team and James understand. Our concentration is now on getting the technical help we need and to make more progress at Le Mans and Catalunya."

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Ellison Expect A Good Result on Estoril

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James Ellision from Paul Bird Motorsport CRT Team told that he's very happy with the improvement of the biike after Jerez race last Sunday. The chatter issue was reduce, and he also feel comfortable running among the CRT riders. 

Ellison told, “I'm very happy with the improvements to the bike, we have gone a long way to sorting the chatter issues by trying a combination of the new front tyre and turning off the traction control but we lost side grip, which we will sort by running traction control at Estoril. We had a couple of problems during practice but I got a great start in the race and was feeling comfortable running with the leading CRT riders, we were even mixing it up with a few prototypes as well, but then the oil pressure suddenly dropped and I had to pit. 

He continue, “I am gutted as we deserved our first points and I feel for the team. We have made good strides this weekend but still need more time on the bike to iron out the problems, especially with the electronics, but today has given us all encouragement and we can hopefully get a good result in Estoril.” 

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picture: Rider Start Losail MotoGP 2012

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Some snapshot from Losail Circuit, Qatar. A moment before race start.
       
source: crash.net

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Ellison: Like riding on a knife edge

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Britain's James Ellison insisted Qatar was a 'positive' weekend despite finishing 18th and last on his MotoGP return for the PBMUK Aprilia ART. 

The 31-year-old Cumbrian and the team, headed up by Phil Borley, continued their ongoing programme of development work and were encouraged by the progress made. 

“All things considered it's been a positive weekend as we have gathered more valuable information in the race than we have in the few days we have tested before Qatar,” said Ellison. 

“I understand how the bike, tyres and brakes need to be ridden now but it is seriously like riding on a knife edge so finding the limit without crashing is tough. 

“You need to brake super-hard to generate the heat in the discs and also at the same time deform the tyre enough to generate the heat in it for the corner entry. 

“But if you carry the brakes into the turn, the tyre folds and you get understeer - or even crash like I did - let off too early and you get chatter, if you get it just right it grips and carries you round the corner,” he added. 

“We're talking fractions of a second difference in timing and 0.5-2bar difference in brake pressure so as you can imagine getting it right every corner of every lap will take time.” 

Ellison expressed his gratitude to the PBMUK team for a massive effort over the weekend and congratulated Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki rider Keith Farmer on his maiden win in the Metzeler National Superstock 1000 Championship at Brands Hatch. 

“The whole team have had a gruelling weekend with the time schedule of night racing and unscheduled tip off but have stayed positive throughout. 

“I'd like to say a big thank you to all of them for their hard work and I now look forward to learning and pushing forward in Jerez. Also big congratulations to Keith Farmer for his win at Brands Hatch yesterday.” 

Team owner Bird is confident the continuing work of the team will eventually 'pay dividends' and is optimistic of challenging the more advanced CRTs soon. 

“It's slow progress but it will pay dividends eventually and hopefully we will be challenging a bit further up the CRT order soon. 

“It will take us few races to get up to speed as we haven't had the testing or development of the established teams but it was important to get a finish in Qatar. We'll continue working hard and hope to improve further in Jerez.” 

source: crash.net

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