Ellison delighted with Airwaves debut

James Ellison says he is more than happy to come away from his first event with the Airwaves Yamaha clutching fifth in the overall standings after an eventful weekend at Brands Hatch.

With just three days to test the new Yamaha R1 following delays in getting parts from the factory team, Ellison went on to endure some mechanical problems, while he was also caught out by the weather.

Nonetheless, Ellison persevered to qualify seventh on the grid and while he wasn't able to join team-mate Leon Camier in fighting it out at the front of the field, he ran competitively to come away with a fifth and a seventh place finish.

Putting him fifth in the overall standings, Ellison says he is pleased with his points haul after such a difficult start to the weekend.

"I did say early on that I'd be disappointed if I finished outside the top five in both races, but to be fair I was being optimistic," he admitted to Crash.net Radio. "The team have had everything against them. We've had to testing and no information, so if someone said I'd be coming away from Brands Hatch fifth in the championship, I'd have snapped their hand off!

"I finished fifth in the first race and I was looking for an improvement in second. We actually improved the bike and the lap times, but I got a bad start and I got stuck behind guys that weren't that much slower. So it was frustrating, but the team are in good spirits and coming away with a win in fantastic. Leon has raised the bar though.

Oulton Park beckons for Ellison now, a circuit where he showed impressive form on the privateer Hydrex Honda last year. With more parts still to come, Ellison is confident of a further improvement next time out.

"We have a lot of work to do. The engine should be a lot quicker at Oulton, so from coming into the weekend with our eyes shut and leaving with second and fifth in the championship, we have got to be happy."